UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


JOHN  B.  GOLTON, 


568  NORTH  BROAD  STREET 
GALESBURG,  ILLINOIS, 


JOHN  B.  GOLTON, 

565  NORTH  BROAD  STREET 
GALESBURG,  ILLINOIS^ 


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e/fc-sd-o-i^ 


JOHN  B.  GOLTON, 

565  NORTH  BROAD  STREET 
GALESBURG,  ILLINOIS.. 


PROCEEDINGS 


AT   THE 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


OF    THE 


INCORPORATION 


OF    THE 


TOWN  OF  LONGMEADOW, 

OCTOBER  IJTH,   1883, 


WITH    NUMEROUS 


HISTORICAL    APPENDICES 


AND 


A  TOWN   GENEALOGY. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


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PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEE, 

UNDER  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  TOWN. 

1884. 


Copyrighted,   1884, 
By  R.  S.  STORKS,  LONGMEADOW,  MASS. 


,  PREMiQF     t 

THE  CASE,  LOCKWOOD  it  BRAINARD  CO. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


PREFACE. 


By  a  vote  of  the  town  of  Longmeadow,  passed  at  its  annual  meeting  in 
the  Spring  of  1883,  the  maximum  sum  allowed  by  the  Statutes  of  Massa- 
chusetts— one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  grand  list — was  appropriated 
for  celebrating  the  first  Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  town's  incorporation, 
and  for  publishing  the  proceedings  of  the  occasion.  The  Celebration  took 
place  upon  the  iyth  of  October — the  exact  date  of  the  signing  of  the  Act  of 
town  Incorporation  in  1783.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Centennial  Committee  on 
the  3d  of  November  following, — the  report  of  the  sub-committee  of  prepa- 
ration showing  a  small  unexpended  balance  from  the  appropriation, — it  was 
voted  "  that  an  edition  of  the  proceedings  properly  bound  and  illustrated, 
and  sufficient  in  number  to  supply  one  copy  to  each  family  in  town  and  to 
each  invited  speaker,  be  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  Mr. 
Storrs,  acting  with  the  Chairman,  Mr.  Harding,  and  the  Town  Treasurer, 
Mr.  Wolcott,  as  a  Committee  of  Publication,  at  a  total  expense  not  exceed- 
ing the  unexpended  appropriation." 

It  was  further  voted  "  that  in  the  inability  of  the  Committee — or  even  of 
the  Town  itself — to  legally  do  more  than  this,  by  reason  of  the  statute  limi- 
tation already  referred  to, — the  offer  of  the  Secretary  to  himself  publish  a 
second  edition  to  meet  any  outside  demand  be  gratefully  accepted  ;  and  that 
he  be  authorized  to  make  use,  for  this  purpose,  of  the  preparation  made  for 
the  Town's  edition  ;  incorporating  with  it  such  other  material  and  illustra- 
tions as  he  may  desire  to  add  at  his  own  expense." 

It  is  in  accordance  with  these  votes  that  the  originally  proposed  pamphlet 
of  a  hundred  pages  has  been  enlarged  by  the  Secretary  to  the  present  vol- 
ume of  more  than  four  hundred. 

The  record  of  the  Day's  Proceedings  will  be  found  unusually  complete. 
The  Historical  Address  is  given  substantially  as  delivered  ;  since  any 
attempt  to  recast  it  in  a  more  consecutive  and  complete  form  would  necessa- 
rily be  at  the  expense  of  the  characteristics  which  adapted  it  for  oral  deliv- 
ery. The  numerous  historical  details,  by  which  it  might  otherwise  have 
been  enriched  and  fortified,  have  been,  by  the  associated  compilers, 
the  Chairman  and  Secretary  of  the  General  Committee,  collected  and 
classified  in  a  copious  Appendix.  In  this  compilation,  documentary  history 
has  been  largely  preferred  to  narrative  ;  as  only  an  Appendix,  and  not  at 
all  a  complete  History  has  been  here  attempted. 


200084 


Special  thanks  are  due  to  the  honored  sons  and  guests  whose  own  revi- 
sion of  their  several  addresses  has  enabled  the  Committee  to  present  them 
here  with  such  fullness.  In  two  or  three  instances  the  manuscript  of 
remarks  whose  delivery  was  prevented  by  want  of  time  or  other  circum- 
stances, has  been  since  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Committee  for  inser- 
tion at  the  appropriate  places — of  which  fact  this  general  acknowledgment 
may  perhaps  suffice. 

The  very  valuable  Genealogical  Appendix  has  been  added  at  considerable 
expense,  in  the  hope  that  many  of  those  into  whose  hands  the  volume  may 
come,  will  interest  themselves  in  supplying  to  the  Town  Selectmen,  by  cor- 
respondence, those  additions  and  corrections  which  may  make  some  future 
edition  of  it  both  complete  and  exact. 

The  liberality  of  several  friends  of  the  work  in  sharing  with  the  Secre- 
tary a  portion  of  the  large  expense  incurred  for  additional  material  and 
illustration,  has  enabled  him  not  only  to  enrich  his  own  edition  with  a  vari- 
ety and  amount  of  this  not  otherwise  possible,  but  also  to  place  the  same,  as 
a  gift  from  the  donors,  in  the  Town's  edition.  Special  acknowledgments  in 
this  respect  are  due  to  G.  C.  Hixon  of  Lacrosse,  Wis.;  Henry  R.  and  Edward 
O.  Wolcott  of  Colorado  ;  Nelson  C.  Newell  of  Springfield;  Ethan  C.  Ely 
and  William  B.  Medlicott  of  Longmeadow  ;  as  well  as  to  the  donors  of  illus- 
trations in  which  they  were  themselves  specially  interested. 

To  the  cordial  and  skillful  cooperation  of  E.  J.  Lazelle  of  Springfield,  and 
W.  P.  Allen  of  Gardner,  the  Secretary  is  specially  indebted  for  professional 
assistance  in  preparing  and  presenting  these  illustrations. 

Grateful  acknowledgments  are  also  due  from  the  Publishing  Committee 
for  aid  received  in  gathering  historical  information,  to  Messrs.  David  and 
Samuel  Booth,  Stephen  T.  Colton,  Ethan  C.  Ely,  Mrs.  G.  McQueen,  Miss 
Julia  Bliss,  David  Hale,  Oliver  Field,  R:  H.  Burnham,  Edwin  Endicott, 
Edmund  Pratt,  Rev.  S.  H.  Gaylord,  Thomas  F.  Cordis,  and  other  fellow- 
citizens,  who  have  in  various  ways  rendered  their  assistance. 

The  responsibility  for  the  editorial  work  of  the  volume  thus  prepared, 
rests  jointly  and  equally  upon  the  Chairman  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Gen- 
eral Committee  ; — with  both  of  whom  it  has  been  wholly  a  labor  of  love. 

If  the  record  here  attempted  of  a  day  so  fragrant  in  its  memories,  and  of 
related  historical  memoranda,  shall  help  to  make  our  brethren  who  were 
detained  from  us  on  the  day  itself,  even  partial  sharers  with  us  now  in  its 
joys  and  its  lessons  ;  or  shall  prove  stimulating  and  suggestive  to  other 
communities  meditating  similar  anniversaries ;  above  all,  if  it  shall  result  in 
quickening  in  ourselves,  or  others,  that  loving  and  loyal  historical  spirit 
upon  which  rests  all  intelligent  analysis  of  human  progress,  its  purpose  will 
have  been  fully  answered,  and  its  compilers  richly  rewarded. 

(R.  S.  STORRS, 
Committee  of  Publication,  4  J.  W.  HARDING, 

(  OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGES. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  DAY,      ......  9~I25 

The  Introduction — The  Day — The  Tent  Exercises — Scripture  Selec- 
tions— Dr.  Wolcott's  Prayer — Dr.  Wolcott's  Hymn — The  Invi- 
tation Circular — The  Address  of  Welcome — Prof.  Storrs'  Hymn 
— The  Historical  Address  — The  Collation  — The  Centennial 
Poem — Mr.  Boies'  Hymn. 

THE  AFTER-DINNER  SPEECHES,  ....  66-124 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  AARON  M.  COLTON,          .  .     67 

MRS.  SCHAUFFLER'S  REMARKS,     .         .         .  -74 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  R.  S.  STORRS,  D.D.,         .  .     76 

ADDRESS  OF  PROF.  E.  A.  PARK,  D.D.,          .  .     85 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  HUBBARD  BEEBE,     .         .  .93 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  SAMUEL  WOLCOTT,  D.D.,  .     97 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  CHARLES  R.  BLISS,          .  .100 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  JOHN  R.  KEEP.        .         .  .106 

ADDRESS  OF  DR.  FREDERICK  COLTON,  .         .  .108 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  W.  W.  LEETE,  .         .         .  .m 

ADDRESS  OF   REV.  DORUS  CLARK,  D.D.,     .  .116 

ADDRESS  OF  JUDGE  W.  S.  SHURTLEFF,  .        .  .119 

CONCLUDING  EXERCISES,     .         .  ...  125 

MISCELLANEOUS  APPENDICES,          .         .  .  127-321 

GENEALOGICAL  APPENDIX,        ......         323-420 


APPENDICES. 


PAGE. 

A. — CELEBRATION  PRELIMINARIES,     ...  .         .  127 

B. — PRESS  NOTICES,  ....  139 

C. — LETTERS  FROM  INVITED  GUESTS, 138 

D. — EAST  LONGMEADOW  GROWTH,      .  .  .  144 

E. — PRECINCT  AND  TOWN  VOTES,       .         .         .         .         .         .  149 

The  First  Meeting-House— The  Square  Pews— The  Seating— The  Drum  Beating— The 
Bell — The  Second  Meeting-House — Miscellaneous  Meeting- House  Votes — School 
Votes — Town  Organization — Street  Votes — Pastor  Williams'  Call — Pastor  Storrs' 
Call— East  Parish  Preaching— The  Baptists— The  Church  Porch— Poor- House  Fund 
— The  Ministerial  Fund — The  Embargo  Act — Domestic  Animals — Change  of  Town 
Name. 

F. — DOCUMENTS  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME, 180 


Warrant — Town   Incorporation   Act  —  Drowned  Lands'    Warrant — Tithing    Man's 


G. — BURYING-GROUNDS, 199 

H. — THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD,     ......  207 

I. — THE  MERCHANT  COLTON  DOCUMENTS,          .        .        .        .213 

J. — PASTOR  WILLIAMS'  DIARY, 221 

K. — THE  DAUPHIN  (?)  WILLIAMS,      ......  230 

L. — THE  DAVENPORT  WILLIAMS  COMMUNION  CUP,     .         .         .  234 

M. — RELIGIOUS  ASPECTS  AND  EVENTS, 237 

N. — CHURCHES  AND  MINISTERS  OF  THE  PRESENT  CENTURY,       .  246 

O. — LONGMEADOW  WOMEN, 255 

P. — INSTITUTIONS  AND  CUSTOMS, 262 

Q. — INDUSTRIES  AND  MANUFACTURES,        .        .        .         .        .270 

R. — TOWN  AND  PAROCHIAL  FUNDS, 275 

S. — THE  RECENT  MILITARY  RECORD, 277 

T. — THE  CIVIL  LIST, 288 

U. — MISCELLANIES, 292 

Devotional,  Documentary,  Business,  Epistolary,  Biographical,  Incidental,  &c. 

V. — FAMILY  MEMORANDA, 305 

The  Burts— Cooleys— Elys— Fields— Goldthwaits— Stebbinses— Storrses— Williamsps. 

THE  TOWN  GENEALOGICAL  RECORD. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PACKS. 

I.  THE  MEETING-HOUSE  ON  THE  GREEN,          .         .  Frontispiece. 

From  an  oil  painting  by  W.  R.  Wheeler  of  Hartford,  for  R.  S.  Storrs — Looking 
northward  from  near  the  old  Brick  Schoolhouse — The  present  parsonage,  east  of 
the  Church,  upon  the  exact  site  of  the  old  Williams  parsonage — The  Storrs 
parsonage,  just  visible  three  doors  northward — The  street  twenty  rods  wide — The 
remodeled  Church  now  located  ten  rods  eastward. 

II.  THE  L-O-N-G  MEADOW, To  face  9 

A  vanishing  perspective  view  of  the  meadow,  looking  northward  from  the  bluff 
near  the  Enfield,  Conn.,  boundary  line — Gleams  of  the  Connecticut  river  on  the 
extreme  left —  Mount  Tom  20  miles,  and  Springfield  6  miles  away,  in  the  dim 
middle  distance — The  meadow  side  hill,  and  the  Longmeadow  village  church  spire 
z  miles  away,  minutely  visible,  on  the  right  horizon — A  merely  topographical 
picture,  only  faintly  suggesting  the  beauty  of  the  real  landscape  under  favorable 
conditions.  (See  page  321.) 

III.  THE  STORRS  PARSONAGE, 24 

Built  in  1786  by  Pastor  Storrs,  upon  the  ministry  lot — Now  owned  and  occupied 
by  his  descendants. 

IV.  THE  BOIES  HOMESTEAD, 57 

Built  by  Deacon  Nathaniel  Ely,  Senior,  about  1770 — Now  owned  and  occupied 
by  his  great-grandson,  Rev.  William  Ely  Boies.  (See  page  314.) 

V.  PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  SCHAUFFLER,           ....        74 

Taken  from  life,  since  the  Centennial  Celebration. 

VI.  PORTRAIT  OF  PASTOR  STORRS, 80 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  his  grandson,  R.  S.  Storrs  of  Long- 
meadow. 

VII.  PORTRAIT  OF  PASTOR  WILLIAMS,          ....        88 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  his  grandson  in  the  fourth  genera- 
.    tion,  R.  S.  Storrs  of  Longmeadow. 

VIII.  THE  WOLCOTT  PLACE,  .......        97 

The  Burnham  mansion,  burned  in  1845  •  replaced  by  the  Burnham  stone  cottage 
in  1848;  The  Captain  Burt  place  remodeled  by  William  G.  Medlicott,  in  1864;  the 
Roderick  Burt  place,  built  60  years  ago ;  purchased  by  Rev.  Samuel  Wolcott, 
D.D.,  in  1883,  and  since  removed  to  furnish  a  site  for  his  proposed  new  residence. 


8 

IX.  THE  COLTON  HOMESTEAD  AND  ELM,    .        .        .        .108 

One  of  the  oldest  houses  on  the  Longmeadow  street — Built  about  150  years  ago. 

X.  THE  PARSONAGE,  CHURCH,  AND  CHAPEL,     .        .         .       127 

The  Parsonage  built  by  subscription  in  1856— The  Church  removed  and  re- 
modeled in  1874— The  Chapel  built  in  1853. 

XL  THE  NEW  TOWN  HALL, 148 

Built  of  Longmeadow  sandstone  in  1882,  in  East  Longmeadow. 

XII.  THE  REMODELED  CHURCH, 158 

The  parsonage  on  the  left ;  the  Chapel  on  the  right,  with  a  glimpse  of  the  bury- 
ing-ground  in  the  rear  of  the  church. 

XIII.  THE  BURYING-GROUND, 199 

The  front,  or  oldest  quarter  of  the  Longmeadow  burying-ground — Pastor 
Storrs'  pyramidal  monument  on  the  left — Pastor  Williams'  table  monument  near  it. 
Capt.  Thomas  Coltou's  table  monument  central, — see  page  33.  Three  table 
monuments  of  Merchant  Samuel  Colton  and  his  two  wives  in  the  right  fore- 
ground,— see  page  205.  The  parsonage  roof  just  visible  over  the  Ely  marble 
obelisk. 

XIV.  THE  DAUPHIN  (?)  WILLIAMS/ 230 

From  a  daguerreotype  taken  by  Cooley  of  Springfield,  on  one  of  Mr.  Williams' 
later  visits  to  Longmeadow. 

XV.  GROUP  OF  PASTORS, 254 

The  five  successors  of  Pastors  Williams  and  Storrs  since  1820.  From  cabinet 
photographs  of  later  years. 

XVI.  PORTRAIT  OF  LIEUT.  HOWARD  BURNHAM,     .         .         .       284 

From  a  photograph  taken  in  1861. 

XVII.  PORTRAIT  OF  DEACON  NATHANIEL  ELY,  Senior,    .         .       310 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  Ethan  C.  Ely  of  Longmeadow. 

MINOR  ILLUSTRATIONS. 
TENT  DECORATION,        .        .        .        .         .         .         .         J0 

PLAN  OF  THE  OLD  MEETING-HOUSE,     ....  156-7 

STREET  PLAN, .         .  178-9 

THE  DAVENPORT  WILLIAMS  COMMUNION  CUP,        .         .       236 
THE  BURNHAM  PLACE, 284 


INTRODUCTION. 


LONGMEADOW  is  one  of  the  few  fortunate  towns  of  our  new 
and  imitative  country  whose  name  is  at  once  original,  significant, 
and  musical.  In  strong  contrast  thus  to  our  Romes,  Smithvilles, 
and  Mauch  Chunks,  its  liquid  name  both  designates  and  describes 
it — a  truly  proper  noun  and  name.  LONG,  indeed,  and  lovely  is 
the  MEADOW  which  stretches  beside  the  quiet  Connecticut  from 
Springfield  southward  to  the  Bay  State  boundary,  and  gives  its 
own  name  to  the  village  threaded  upon  its  single  broad  and 
parallel  street  of  equal  length,  eastward  upon  the  upland. 

The  traveler  of  these  modern  days,  whirled  along  the  iron 
track  which  cuts  these  outspreading  meadows,  catches  glimpses 
only  of  the  leaf -embowered  homesteads  of  the  street,  and  may 
be  pardoned,  perhaps,  for  questioning  the  necessity  of  the 
solitary  station-house  which  now  alone  occupies  the  meadow. 
But  the  old-time  traveler  upon  the  stage-road  from  Springfield 
to  Hartford  would  not  easily  overlook,  nor  soon  forget,  the  broad 
and  elm-lined  street  of  this  fair  New  England  village,  with  its 
single  and  central  Meeting  House,  lifting  from  among  the  trees 
its  slender  but  springing  spire  crowned  with  its  vigilant  sentinel- 
bird,  and  facing 

"  Four-square  to  all  the  winds  that  blow  " 

its  double  deck  of  antique  windows,  whence  the  artillery  of  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel  could  sweep  unhindered  the  paths  radiating 
thence  to  every  village  home. 


IO 

The  sagacious  pioneers  who,  in  1637,  threaded  their  way  west- 
ward from  Boston  along  the  old  Bay  Path  to  the  Connecticut 
valley,  were  not  long,  we  may  be  sure,  in  discovering  and 
appropriating  to  themselves  a  spot  so  uniquely  attractive.  No 
commemoration  of  the  original  settlement  of  the  place  can 
therefore  be  intended  by  a  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  present 
date ;  since  a  postponement  of  only  eleven  years  will  bring  us  to 
the  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  that  event. 

Seven  full  decades  of  Springfield  service— 1644  to  1713— 
and  seven  more  of  semi-detached  precinct  organization — 1713 
to  1783 — were  the  Leah  and  Rachel  probation  periods  of  our 
pioneer  youth,  'ere  its  hale  manhood  set  up  its  own  independent 
Town  organization ; — the  event  of  which  the  Centennial  Celebra- 
tion of  October  17,  1883,  was  really  commemorative. 

Moreover — to  Longmeadow,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  the 
learned  Secretary  of  the  New  England  Historic  and  Genealogical 
Society, —  himself  a  grandson  of  the  town, —  to  Longmeadow 
belongs  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest  child  of  the  Independ- 
ent State  of  Massachusetts ;  since  it  was  "the  first  town  organized 
after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain  had 
made  the  Nation  and  the  State  legally  and  indisputably,  as  well 
as  practically,  free  and  independent." '  Fittingly,  therefore,  was 
it  proposed  to  celebrate  with  loyal  love,  the  One  Hundredth 
Anniversary  of  the  "coming  of  age"  of  this  eldest  child  of  the 
sovereign  State. 

1  See  Appendix  C.     Letter  of  Oliver  Bliss  Stebbins. 


1644 

1783       Wfifcfi4fM.fi,       1883 


TENT  DECORATION. 


THE  CELEBRATION. 


The  morning  of  the  long-anticipated  day  broke  with  roseate 
hues  and  a  crisp  and  frosty  air,  upon  a  village  green  already 
prepared  for  the  day's  festivities.  Upon  the  exact  site  of  the 
old  Meeting  House,  and  just  in  front  of  the  present  one 
remodelled  upon  the  ancient  frame,  had  been  pitched  a  triple- 
masted  audience  marquee,  with  a  smaller  one  adjoining  it  for 
collation  conveniences. 

At  early  dawn  the  villagers  were  awakened  by  the  finishing 
thuds  of  the  tent  men,  and  the  wagons  of  the  collation  purveyors. 
The  bracing  coolness  of  the  morning  air  was  soon  tempered 
by  the  rising  sun  into  the  mild  and  cheery  glow  of  a  perfect 
October  day.  By  and  by  merry  groups  of  shouting  boys  opened 
the  festivities  with  their  hilarious  games  upon  the  Green ;  the  red 
coats  of  the  musicians  brightened  the  scene;  and  the  steady 
inflow  of  omnibuses  and  private  carriages,  bicycles,  and  railroad 
arrivals,  effectually  awoke  the  old  street  from  its  wonted  quietude, 
and  sent  through  the  gathering  multitude  festal  thrills  of  hospit- 
able welcome  and  joyous  expectation. 

The  chief  marshal  and  his  corps  of  assistants  were  everywhere 
present  and  ready  with  their  courtesies.  Each  team,  as  it 
arrived,  was  met  by  attendants  in  waiting,  ticketed,  and  taken  to 
a  convenient  open  field  amply  provided  with  facilities  for  their 
care;  and  it  was  by  no  means  the  least  of  the  day's  outside 
attractions,  to  see  the  long  and  well-compacted  ranks  of  horses 
thus  massed  and  cared  for  within  one  enclosure. 


12 


Many  guests  from  more  distant  places  had  arrived  the  day 
before  ;  and  as  each  hospitable  home  poured  out  its  inmates,  and 
the  long  succession  of  East  Longmeadow  teams  filed  in  through 
the  intervening  woods  as  in  the  old  Sabbath  days  when  the 
whole  town  worshiped  together,  the  gathering  throng  rapidly 
filled  the  settees  of  the  tent  to  the  number  of  more  than  two 
thousand,  which  afterwards,  when  the  standing  room  was  also 
occupied,  grew  to  nearly  twenty-five  hundred. 

It  was  a  characteristic  Connecticut  valley  audience,. combining 
the  best  New  England  elements  of  both  country  and  city  life, 
with  a  fair  commingling  of  adopted  citizens.  It  was  especially 
gratifying  throughout  the  day  to  notice  the  respectful,  and  even 
eager,  interest  with  which  these  last  listened  to  the  exercises  and 
shared  the  common  hospitalities  of  the  occasion. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  and  interesting  features  of  the 
scene  was  the  large  number  of  aged  men  and  women  seated 
upon  the  platform,  who,  with  glowing  faces  and  youth  renewed, 
sat  through  the  protracted  exercises  of  both  morning  and  after- 
noon, to  the  equal  pleasure,  of  all  who,  with  loving  respect, 
greeted  their  venerable  presence. 

On  a  lower  platform  in  front  of  the  speakers'  stand  sat  Little's 
Band  of  eighteen  skilled  musicians ;  their  scarlet  uniforms  and 
shining  instruments  lending  color  to  the  scene,  and  their  choice 
selections  of  music  giving  restful  pauses  and  cheerful  inspira- 
tions. It  was  noticeable  that  these  all  kept  their  places 
throughout  the  day,  even  in  the  intervals  when  their  attendance 
might  have  been  excused ;  not  from  perfunctory  decorum,  but 
evidently  held  fast  by  the  intrinsic  interest  of  the  occasion. 

The  natural  dampness  and  possible  chill  of  the  earth-floor 
within  the  tent  had  been  guarded  against  by  a  sufficient  carpeting 
of  soft,  sweet  hay  ;  the  skillful  intermingling  and  arrangement 
of  hundreds  of  settees  and  hundreds  more  of  chairs  in  radiating 
sections,  afforded  convenient  and  restful  seating  for  all ;  while 
the  glow  of  the  sun  upon  the  canvas  was  just  enough  for  cheery 
light  and  genial  warmth. 

Thus,  upon  the  hour,  the  place,  and  the  multitude  seemed  to 
rest  the  glow  and  the  gladness  of  a  perfect  festal  day. 


13 

THE  TENT  EXERCISES. 


Promptly  at  the  appointed  hour  the  exercises  of  the  tent  were 
opened  by  the  singing  of  the  Doxology  in  long  meter  by  the 
whole  assembly,  led  by  the  cornet  and  a  portion  of  the  band ; 
and  as  the  grand  strains  of  that  noble  invocation 

Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow, 
Praise  Him  all  creatures  here  below, 
Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  host, 
Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 

floated  out  on  the  tranquil  air,  it  seemed,  indeed,  a  fitting  prelude 
for  such  a  celebration. 

The  following  Scripture  selections  were  then  read  by  Rev. 
Albert  I.  Button,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  the 
East  Part  of  the  town  : 

SCRIPTURE   SELECTIONS. 

1.  O,  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord :  call  upon  His  name :  make 
known  His  deeds  among  the  people. 

2.  Remember  his  marvelous  works  that  He  hath  done :  His 
wonders  and  the  judgments  of  His  mouth. 

3.  He  is  the  Lord  our  God  :  He  hath  remembered  His  cove- 
nant forever. 

4.  When  our  fathers  were  but  few  in  number,  yea,  very  few, 
and  strangers  in  the  land  ; 

5.  When  they  went  from  one  nation  to  another,  from  one 
kingdom  to  another  people ; 

6.  He  suffered  no  man  to  do  them  wrong ;  yea,  He  reproved 
kings  for  their  sake  ; 

7.  Saying,  Touch  not  Mine  anointed  and  do  My  prophets  no 
harm. 

8.  And  He  increased  His  people  greatly  ;  and  made  them 
stronger  than  their  enemies. 

9.  And    He  brought  forth   His  people  with  joy,  and  His 
chosen  with  gladness. 


14 

10.  We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  O  God,  our  fathers  have 
told  us,  what  work  Thou  didst  in  their  days,  in  the  times  of 
old. 

11.  How  Thou  didst  drive  out  the  nations  with  Thy  hand, 
and  plantedst  them. 

12.  For  they  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  own 
sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them  ; 

13.  But  Thy  right  hand,  and  Thine  arm,  and  the  light  of 
Thy  countenance,  because  Thou  hadst  a  favor  unto  them. 

14.  Thou  preparedst  room  before  the  vine  of  Thy  planting, 
and  didst  cause  it  to  take  deep  root  and  it  filled  the  land. 

15.  The  hills  were  covered  with  the  shadow  of  it,  and  the 
boughs  thereof  were  like  the  goodly  cedars. 

1 6.  She  sent  out  her  boughs  unto  the  sea,  and  her  branches 
unto  the  river. 

17.  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are 
glad. 

1 8.  We  will  not  hide  these  things  from  our  children,  show- 
ing to  the  generation  to  come  the  praises  of  the  Lord ; 

19.  And  His  strength,  and   His  wonderful  works  that  He 
hath  done. 

20.  For  He  established  statutes,  and  appointed  laws,  which 
He  commanded  our  fathers  to  make  known  to  their  children  : 
that  the  generation  to  come  might  know  Him  : 

21.  That  they  might  set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget 
the  works  of  God,  but  keep  His  commandments. 

22.  And  He  led.  them  on  safely,  so  that  they  feared  not. 

23.  Our  fathers  trusted  in  Thee :   they  trusted,  and  Thou 
didst  deliver  them. 

24.  They  cried  unto  Thee,  and  were  delivered  :  they  trusted 
in  Thee,  and  were  not  confounded. 

25.  So  we,  Thy  people  and  sheep  of  Thy  pasture,  will  give 
Thee   thanks   forever :   we  will   show  forth   Thy  praise   to  all 
generations. 

26.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  from  everlasting  to  everlasting: 
and  let  all  the  people  say,  Amen. 

PRAISE  YE  THE  LORD. 


15 

Prayer  was  then  offered  as  follows,  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Wolcott,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Longmeadow 
from  1843  to  1847, — now  °f  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

DR.  WOLCOTT'S    PRAYER. 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  Thou  art  our  God,  and 
we  will  praise  Thee,  Thou  art  our  fathers'  God,  and  we  will 
exalt  Thee.  Thou  reignest  amid  the  grandeur  and  the  glory  of 
Thine  own  eternity,  and  Thou  art  not  worshiped  with  men's 
hands  as  though  Thou  neededst  anything,  seeing  Thou  givest 
to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all  things,  and  Thy  tender  mercies  are 
over  all  Thy  works.  All  Thy  works  praise  Thee,  O  iord,  and 
Thy  saints  shall  bless  Thee.  We  would  abundantly  utter  the 
memory  of  Thy  great  goodness,  and  would  sing  of  Thy  righteous- 
ness. 

We  bless  Thee  that  Thou  hast  kindly  watched  over  us  and 
brought  us  to  this  hour,  and  we  humbly  invoke  Thy  presence 
with  us,  and  Thy  blessing  upon  us,  and  upon  the  occasion  which 
has  called  us  together.  We  ask  Thee  to  preside  over  all  the 
exercises  of  this  Centennial  Celebration.  We  thank  Thee  that 
Thou  didst  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  our  forefathers  to  forsake 
the  dear  delights  of  their  native  land  and  cross  the  wide  waters, 
bearing  the  ark  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  to  this  western 
continent.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  didst  safely  conduct  them 
hither,  to  plant  in  the  wilderness  the  pure  Christian  faith,  and 
make  the  solitude  vocal  with  the  praise  of  God.  We  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  didst  watch  over  the  vine  which  was  here  planted, 
and  preparedst  room  before  it,  and  didst  cause  it  to  tak'e  deep 
root  and  fill  the  land,  covering  the  hills  with  its  shadow.  We 
bless  Thee  for  our  godly  ancestry,  and  for  all  which  they  suffered 
and  wrought  for  us  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come. 
We  praise  Thee  that  our  souls  were  early  imbued  with  the  pre- 
cepts and  the  principles  of  the  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ ;  that  we  were  trained  in  the  ways  of  Christian 
knowledge  and  virtue ;  that  the  lines  have  fallen  to  us  in  pleas- 
ant places,  and  we  have  a  goodly  heritage.  Make  us  worthy  £0 
be  the  descendants  and  the  successors  of  those  of  whom  the 


1.6 

world  was  not  worthy.  In  our  day  and  generation  may  we  be 
faithful  to  the  high  trust  committed  to  us,  even  as  they  were 
faithful  in  their  day  and  generation.  The  same  institutions 
which  we  have  received  as  a  precious  legacy  from  those  that 
have  gone  before  us,  may  we  transmit  unimpaired  and  strength- 
ened to  those  that  shall  come  after  us.  Thou  who  hast  been  our 
fathers'  God,  be  our  God  also,  and  the  God  of  our  children. 

We  thank  Thee,  O  Father,  for  all  the  kindness  which  Thou 
hast  shown  to  the  Christian  families,  the  children  of  Thy  cove- 
nant, that  from  the  beginning  have  composed  this  household  of 
faith.  We  praise  Thee  that  Thou  hast  brought  the  survivors 
with  grateiul  hearts  to  this  glad  festival.  May  they  consecrate 
themselves  afresh  to  Thy  cause,  and  meet  faithfully  the  obliga- 
tions which  press  upon  them.  Bless  Thy  servant,  our  brother, 
the  pastor  of  this  flock  of  Christ.  Strengthen  him  for  the  work 
to  which  Thou  hast  here  called  him  ;  let  Thy  pleasure  prosper 
in  his  hand ;  and  long  may  he  stand  on  these  walls  of  Thy  Zion, 
a  defender  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Bless  the 
other  churches  and  congregations,  with  their  pastors,  that  unite 
in  this  commemoration ;  and  upon  the  people  of  this  town 
bestow  the  blessings  of  the  covenant  of  Thy  grace.  May  the 
rehearsal  of  Thy  dealings,  to  which  we  shall  now  listen,  deepen 
in  us  all  a  sense  of  our  privileges  and  responsibilities. 

O  God,  our  fathers  have  told  us  what  work  Thou  didst  in  their 
days,  in  the  time  of  old, — how  Thou  didst  drive  out  the  heathen 
with  Thy  hand  and  plantedst  them.  For  they  got  not  the  land 
in  possession  by  their  own  sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  saye 
them ;  but  Thy  right  hand  and  Thine  arm  and  the  light  of  Thy 
countenance,  because  Thou  hadst  a  fayor  unto  them.  Our 
fathers  trusted  in  Thee :  they  trusted  and  Thou  didst  deliver 
them.  They  cried  ui\to  Thee  and  were  delivered  :  they  trusted 
in  Thee,  and  were  not  confounded.  In  God  we  boast  all  the 
day  long,  and  praise  Thy  name  forever.  So  we,  Thy  people  and 
sheep  of  Thy  pasture,  will  give  Thee  thanks  forever  :  we  will 
show  forth  Thy  praise  to  all  generations.  Amen. 


17 

The  following  Commemorative  Hymn,  written  by  Dr.  Wolcott 
for  the  occasion,  was  then  sung  by  the  united  assembly  to  the 
tune  of  Marlowe,  with  band  accompaniment : 

DR.  WOLCOTT'S   HYMN. 

The  trees  their  crowns  of  glory  wear, 
Broad-branched  and  leafed  with  green ; 

The  meadows  still  their  harvests  bear, — 
One  hundred  years  between. 

Beneath  the  quiet  shades  remain 

The  homes  our  fathers  blest ; 
The  pew  and  pulpit  still  maintain 

The  faith  which  they  professed. 

•      • 
Not  for  themselves  they  bravely  wrought, 

In  honest  labor's  glow  ; 
God's  blessing  for  their  heirs,  they  sought, 
One  hundred  years  ago. 

Their  steadfast  trust  in  things  unseen, 

Devotion,  calm  and  strong, 
Their  courage,  dauntless  and  serene, — 

These  all  to  us  belong. 

The  gospel  they  so  dearly  prized, 

Is  still  our  precious  trust ; 
And  grace  to  guard  what  they  devised, 

We  seek  above  their  dust. 

O'er  us  and  ours,  O  God,  preside. 

In  paths  our  fathers  trod  ; 
O  Love  Divine,  our  footsteps  guide, 

To  rest  with  them  in  God. 

The  President  of  the  day,  Professor  R.  S.  Storrs  of  Long- 
meadow  and  Hartford,  then  happily  indicated  the  keynote  of  his 
chairmanship  throughout  the  day,  as  being  simply  the  represen- 
tative of  Mother  Longmeadow  herself,  by  reading  from  the 
Circular  of  Invitation, — a  fac  simile  of  which  is  here  given, — its 
opening  paragraph ;  both  to  suggest  more  vividly  to  the  minds 
of  all  the  gracious  presence  of  Her  whose  call  had  gathered 
them,  and  also  as  fitly  introductory  to  the  Address  of  Wel- 
come delivered  by  him,  in  her  name,  immediately  thereafter. 
3 


i8 


meadow  • 
1783-0^.  17.— 1883 


To  all  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Longmeadow, 
our  Common  Mother  sendeth  loving  Greeting: 

Cordially  inviting  you  her  well-beloved  Children,  with 
every  friend  to  you  or  to  herself  allied,  joyously  to  gather  your- 
selves upon  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  tenth  month,  under  the 
ancestral  Elms  of  the  Olden  Green,  To  Celebrate  with  her, 
in  song  and  thanksgiving  and  historic  reminiscence,  and  with  all 
fitting  fellowships  of  heart  and  of  hand, 

«Hep  Qo© 

And  this,  her  cordial  invitation,  our  venerable  and  beloved 
Mother  sendeth,  in  especial  remembrance,  to  you  whose 
name  is  hereupon  inscribed,  by  the  hand  of  her  Centennial 
Committee  thereunto  appointed  and  commissioned. 

JOHN  W.  HARDING. 

RICHARD  S.  STORRS. 
To  OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

EDWARD  INDICOTT. 
JOHN  McFETHRIES. 
JOHN  C.  PORTER. 
HENRY  HALL. 
Longmeadow,  Aug.  -2,0,  1883.  JOHN  A.  McKINSTRY. 


THE  ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME. 

BY    PROF. -R.    S.    STORKS. 


Sons  and  Daughters  of  our  Beloved  Mother 

Longmeadow  : Her  own  invitation  it  was,  dictated  merely  to 

me  her  willing  scribe,  which  has  gathered  you  here  to-day ;  her 
welcome,  too,  it  is,  which  now,  by  her  command,  I  speak. 

And  I  would  that,  as  I  try  to  translate  into  human  speech  the 
myriad  voices  of  welcome  which  the  dear  mother  has  been 
whispering  to  me  all  these  autumn  days,  in  leafy  lane  and  on 
sunny  slope — I  would  that  I  could  revive  in  your  minds  some- 
thing of  that  fresh  nature-faith  of  men  when  the  world  itself  was 
young,  by  which  they  so  easily  and  so  beautifully  personified  in 
tenderest  human  relationships  old  Mother  Earth  herself,  and  all 
the  manifold  forces  and  forms  of  nature  around  them. 

Then,  indeed,  to  you,  as  to  the  Nile  worshiper  of  old,  yonder 
silver  stream  which  washes  your  beautiful  meadows  would  be  no 
longer  simply  a  stream,  but  rather  some  bounteous  and  benignant 
Father  of  floods,  reclining  himself  among  New  England  vales, 
and  pouring  from  his  lavish  urn  affluent  tides  of  blessing  along 
your,  borders ;  and  you  would  seem  to  hear  in  every  murmuring 
ripple  that  kisses  its  banks,  sweet  syllables  of  welcome  home  to 
you,  the  children  of  his  beloved  meadow  bride. 

Then,  too,  for  you,  as  for  the  ancient  Greek,  the  hill-side 
groves  which  skirt  your  meadows  and  the  laughing  brooklets 
which  intersect  them,  would  be  populous  with  nymph  and  naiad, 
and  vocal  with  their  welcome  to  ea^ch  returning  child;  while 
every  ancestral  tree  about  us  would  seem  to  bend  in  loving 
recognition,  and  to  whisper  in  every  breeze  almost  articulate 
words  of  welcome  home. 


2O 

Thus  to  us,  as  to  all  those  childlike  races  of  an  earlier  and  a 
clearer  vision  than  ours,  it  would  be  given  to  discern  in  this 
round  planet  of  our  star-eyed  science,  the  dear  old  Earth  Mother 
herself,  bearing  upon  her  bosom  her  innumerable  tribes  of  child- 
ren, and  gladly  yielding  for  their  support  her  own  generous  life. 

And  then  would  these  words  of  your  invitation  hither,  "Vener- 
able and  Beloved  Mother,"  be  to  you  no  mere  figure  of  speech ; 
but  rather  would  they  call  up  before  you  a  glad  and  gracious 
matron,  of  fairest  form  and  feature,  whose  rich  variety  of  beauty 
"age  cannot  wither,"  standing  with  outstretched  hands,  waiting 
to  gather  us  all  within  her  ample  arms,  and  to  breathe  upon  us 
her  warm  maternal  blessing. 

To  me,  then,  thus  imagining,  and  thus  lovingly  listening  to 
the  myriad  whispering  of  the  dear  Mother  in  stream,  and  grove, 
and  rustling  field,  she  has  seemed  to  be  saying,  again  and  again : 

"BlD     WELCOME     FOR     ME, WARMEST     WELCOME, to    all    my 

Saxon  children, — latest  and  best  beloved  of  all  my  offspring.  For 
they  are  not  my  only  children,  as  they  may  have  thought.  My  real 
years  date  not  from  any  human  enactment  of  even  Puritan 
antiquity;  but  from  the  far  earlier  decree  of  Him  whose  omnip- 
otent hand  upraised  New  England's  hills  and  hollowed  out  her 
vales,  spread  my  carpet  of  verdure  beside  yonder  stream,  and 
Himself  baptised  me  from  its  font  with  my  own  liquid  name — 
most  musical — most  meet. 

"The  1-o-n-g  meadow  of  the  red  deer,  in  truth  I  was,  as  he 
bounded  o'er  me  to  slake  his  thirst  at  yonder  river's  side;  and 
the  1-o-n-g  meadow  of  the  red  man,  as  well,  pursuing  the  deer 
through  glen,  and  glade,  and  grove.  Upon  my  bosom  have 
dwelt,  upon  my  bounty  have  fed,  and  from  me  have  finally 
departed  to  return  no  more,  successive  generations  of  these,  my 
elder  children.  While  they  were  with  me  I  loved  them,  I  nursed 
them,  I  cared  for  them ;  but  they  made  me  no  large  return  of 
filial  service  or  love,  and  T  mourned  not  their  final  departure. 


21 


"Then  came  the  pale  face, — stern  of  feature,  strong  of  sinew, 
and  stout  of  heart, — nigh  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  My 
Centennial  is  it,  that  ye  call  this  latest  birthday  of  mine  ?  Nay, 
not  that  alone, — for  twice  one  hundred  years,  and  more,  have 
come  and  gone,  since  the  pioneer  pale  face  builded  here  his 
home,  and  first  syllabled  my  liquid  name.  Ah,  well  do  I  remem- 
ber them !  and  brave  and  loyal  men  they  were,  and  tender  and 
true  women,  who  crossed  the  stormy  seas  from  their  distant  isle, 
looked  lovingly  upon  my  fair  expanse,  and  chose  me,  from  all 
this  broad  land,  for  their  future  home.  And  my  heart  warmed 
to  them  at  once ;  and  I  gladly  gave  them  of  my  choicest  and  my 
best; — my  golden  corn, — my  waving  grass  and  grain, —  the 
luscious  yield  of  orchard  and  of  garden. 

"And  they  were  not  ungrateful  children  of  a  loving  mother. 
My  brow  and  my  bosom  they  smoothed  and  glossed  with  kind- 
liest culture,  dotted  with  hospitable  homes,  and  adorned  with 
over-arching  trees  till  my  beauty  became  a  proverb  beyond  the 
seas.  Then,  in  my  heart  of  hearts  they  reared  the  school  of 
culture,  and  the  sanctuary  of  faith, — the  symbols  and  the  expo- 
nents of  all  that  was  highest  and  holiest  in  their  own  lives,  and 
most  honorable  and  ennobling  to  me.  And  thus  for  seven 
successive  generations — and  more — these  noble  men  and  women, 
and  their  children's  children,  lived,  and  loved,  and  labored,  and 
rested.  God  bless  them — every  one — whether  they  sleep  in  my 
embrace  within  yonder  churchyard  fold,  or  in  distant  lands,  or 
in  the  vast  and  wandering  grave  of  the  fathomless  sea. 

"And  now,  do  you  wonder  that  my  heart  goes  out  in  warmest 
greeting  to  the  living  descendants  of  those  brave  men  and  true- 
hearted  women,  who  have  gone  out  from  my  sheltering  arms, 
and  have  builded  for  themselves  other  homes,  and  so  have 
carried  my  dear  name  and  fame  far  and  wide  among  men  ?  And 
that  I  bid  you  give  them  my  choicest  welcome  as  they  come 


22 


back  to-day  at  my  call,  'To  Celebrate  with  me  under  the  ancestral 
Elms  of  the  Olden  Green,  with  song  and  thanksgiving  and 
historic  reminiscence,  and  with  all  fitting  fellowships  of  heart 
and  of  hand,'  this  gladdest  day  of  all  my  years-? " 


Thus  far  the  Mother  herself,  to  every  child  that  hath  ears  to 
hear.  But  the  days  have  long  since  gone  by,  when  such  simple 
faiths  as  these  had  power  to  sway  the  imaginations  of  men. 
For  the  race,  as  for  the  individual, 

It  is  not  now  as  it  hath  been  of  yore. 

Turn  whereso'er  we  may, 

By  night  or  day, 
The  things  which  we  have  seen  we  now  can  see  no  more. 

Full  well  we  know,  where'er  we  go, 
That  there  hath  passed  away  a  glory  from  the  earth. 

But  if  the  Christian  revelation  and  the  Christian  science 
which  have  superseded  that  elder  nature-faith,  have  taken  from 
us  something  of  that  mysterious  charm  which  invested  the 
mythologic  world,  they  have,  in  their  place,  given  us  something 
far  higher  and  nobler ;  and  other  welcomes  than  these  there  are, 
which  I  am  still  privileged  to  speak  to  this  Christian  congregation. 

From  the  all-embracing  and  all-sustaining  Earth  Mother  of 
pagan  and  poetic  fancy,  beautiful  though  it  be,  we  turn  reverently 
and  gladly  to  the  Christian  conception  of  the  infinite  All  Father. 
He  it  is  who  setteth  the  solitary  in  families,  who  gathereth  fami- 
lies into  communities,  who  leadeth  forth  and  planteth  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  who  allots  to  every  human  being  his  birthplace 
and  his  home.  His  voice  it  is  which  speaks  to  every  human 
heart  in  those  sacred  affections  of  kindred  and  of  home,  almost 
the  deepest  and  dearest,  almost  the  highest  and  holiest,  that  the 
human  heart  can  know.  And  He,  above  all  others,  it  surely  is, 
who  this  day  lovingly  leads  you  back,  and  welcomes  you,  to 
these  fields  and  forests  where  your  fathers  so  long  ago  "  found  " 
what  here  they  chiefly  sought,  "freedom  to  worship  Him." 


23 

And  if  the  naiads  and  the  dryads  are  departed,  and  the  leafy 
groves  are  voiceless  for  you  now ;  if 

From  haunted  spring  and  dale 

The  parting  genius  is  with  sighing  sent, 

that  faith  and  hope  which  have  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light,  have,  in  their  place,  peopled  this  upper  air  with  a  vast 
cloud  of  witnesses,  all  unknown  to  pagan  faith. 

More  than  is  of  man's  degree 
Must  be  with  us,  watching  here, 
At  this,  our  glad  festivity. 
Whom  we  see  not,  we  revere  ; 

and  subtly,  o'er  our  inmost  souls  there  steals  a  sense  of  welcome 
warm,  like  dew  distilling  from  the  skies,  as  from  their  heights  of 
glorified  vision,  they,  our  dear  departed  ones,  bend  above  us, 
rejoicing  to  meet  and  mingle  with  us  in  this  day's  happy,  and 
even  holy,  festivities. 

And  we,  too,  the  happy  inheritors  of  all  this  wealth  of  beauty 
and  of  blessing ;  we,  whose  privilege  it  is  still  to  dwell  beneath  the 
same  skies  which  smiled  upon  our  fathers  and  yours,  to  breathe  the 
same  air,  to  till  the  same  soil,  to  gather  around  the  same  hearth- 
stone, and  to  worship  in  the  same  sanctuary, — we,  too,  welcome 
you,  our  brothers  and  sisters,  back  to  your  home  and  to  ours. 

Most  gladly  do  we  acknowledge  your  common  heirship  with 
us  in  all  the  rich  heritage  of  the  past, — its  sweet  and  sacred 
memories, — its  holy  and  heroic  inspirations; — and  we  welcome 
you  to  an  equal  participation  with  ourselves  in  all  the  glad  fellow- 
ships of  this  Centennial  Day.  Together  let  us  retrace  the  historic 
past,  with  one  who  "more  than  a  brother  is  to  us;"  together  let  us 
raise  the  song  of  grateful  ^praise ;  together  let  us  lift  the  prayer  of 
reverent  thanksgiving ;  and  together  let  us  pledge  ourselves,  in  His 
strength,  to  lives  worthy  of  such  a  history,  and  such  an  ancestry. 

And  may  a  gracious  God  bless  and  keep,  for  many  and  -many 
a  century  yet  to  come,  in  ever  brightening  beauty  and  in  ever 
broadening  bounty,  OUR  DEAR  OLD  MOTHER  LONGMEADOW  ! 


24 

The  Address  of  Welcome  was  followed  by  the. singing  of  the 
following  Centennial  Hymn,  written  by  Professor  Storrs  for  the 
occasion,  to  the  familiar  tune  of  the  Missionary  Chant,  with  the 
omission  of  the  refrain  line  of  each  stanza. 

CENTENNIAL  HYMN. 

BY   PROF.    R.    S.    STORRS. 

Bend  low — in  brightest  beauty  bend. 
Ye  skies,  that  o'er  our  fathers  smiled : 
Sweetest,  selectest  influence  lend, 
To  bless  the  heart  of  every  child, 
On  this  dear  Natal  Day. 

Blow  soft — ye  balmy  breezes,  blow, 
That  winged  our  fathers  o'er  the  sea, 
These  meadows,  fresh  and  fair,  to  sow 
With  sacred  seeds  of.  Liberty, 

For  this  free  Natal  Day. 

Flow  gently,  flow — thou  silver  stream, 
That  washed  those  meadows  fresh  and  fair  ; 
Let  "gladness  glow  in  every  gleam 
That  flashes  on  th' illumined  air, 

Of  this  bright  Natal  Day. 

Ye  mountains,  meadows,  woods,  and  plains, 
Ye  skies,  and  streams,  and  glades,  and  groves, 
EXULT — that  still  to  you  remains 
This  village  of  our  fathers'  loves, 

To  this  glad  Natal  Day. 

God  grant  that  while  the  sun  shall  shine, 
And  human  hearts  and  homes  endure, 
Around  these  homes  fond  hearts  shall  twine, 
In  love  and  homage  deep  and  pure, 

As  on  this  Natal  Day. 

The  President  then  introduced  the  Orator  of  the  Day,  Rev. 
John  Wheeler  Harding,  under  the  perhaps  pardonable  pseudonym 
of  "  Rev.  John  Williams  Harding,  a  lineal  descendant,  if  there 
ever  was  one, — in  spirit  at  least — of  the  Rev.  John  Williams  of 
Deerfield." 

Mr.  Harding,  after  a  pleasant  acknowledgment  of  the  relation- 
ship thus  unexpectedly  attributed  to  him,  proceeded  to  deliver 
the  following  Historical  Address. 


X- 


THE  HISTORICAL   ADDRESS, 

BY  REV.  JOHN  W.  HARDING, 

PASTOR    OF 

THE    FIRST    CHURCH    OF    CHRIST 

IN   LONGMEADOW. 


This  centennial  anniversary  seizes  upon  the  land-mark  of  our 
town  incorporation  only  as  the  starting  place  for  a  review,  not 
of  one  hundred  years  alone,  but  of  the  two  hundred  and  forty 
years  that  have  poured  their  treasures  into  our  Longmeadow 
history.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  compress  such  a  history  into 
a  historical  address.  Avoiding,  therefore,  the  tedium  of  chro- 
nological and  genealogical  precisions,  I  shall  simply  attempt, 
within  the  hour  allotted  me,  a  series  of  photographic  glances ; 
not,  however,  at  random,  but  with  the  connecting  purpose  of 
illustrating  what  Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  that  acute  observer  of 
our  American  institutions,  said  of  the  New  England  township. 
"It  was  the  nucleus  round  which  the  local  interests,  rights,  and 
duties  so  collected  and  clung,  that  it  gave  scope  to  the  activities 
of  a  thoroughly  democratic  and  republican  life.  Its  local  assem- 
blies of  freemen — the  town-meetings  —  were  to  liberty  what 
primary  schools  are  to  science;  they  brought  it  within  the 
people's  reach ;  they  taught  men  how  to  use  and  enjoy  it ;  and 
even  while  the  American  colonies  still  recognized  the  supremacy 
of  the  mother  country,  the  republic  was  already  established  in 
every  township." 

My  illustrations  will  cover,  though  all  too  rapidly  anc}  suc- 
cinctly, three  periods, — the  Meadow  or  Springfield  period,  the 


26 

Precinct,  and  the  Town  period,  the  latter  specially  marked  by  our 
centennial, — one  hundred  years, — the  former  two  about  seventy 
years  each. 

Our  Longmeadow  founders,  the  Coltons,  Burts,  Cooleys, 
Blisses,  Keeps,  Elys,  Fields,  Hales,  and  Stebbinses,  were  not 
exiles  or  separatists,  like  the  Plymouth  pilgrims.  They  belonged 
to  the  company  of  some  20,000  Puritan  emigrants,  whose  sails 
whitened  the  Atlantic  sea  between  1630  and  1640;  Englishmen 
of  the  adventurous  and  thrifty  sort,  who  came  with  their  cattle 
and  household  goods,  many  of  them  with  considerable  substance, 
not  simply  for  wider  religious  freedom,  but  to  better  their 
worldly  condition. 

It  is  the  summer  of  1630.  From  one  of  Boston's  hills  we  view 
the  sea.  Westward  ho!  A  sail!  Another  sail!  Seventeen 
ships  that  summer  come  from  Albion's  shore — 1600  passengers, 
and  of  the  best  that  ever  came.  Among  them,  John  Winthrop 
and  his  friend,  William  Pynchon,  bringing  the  charter  of  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  both  patentees,  Winthrop  gover- 
nor, Pynchon  assistant.  They  reinforce  the  notable  company 
already  there  and  rapidly  increasing  ;  bold,  hardy,  resolute  men  ; 
brave,  gentle,  patient  women  ;  their  ministers  such  as  Cotton, 
Hooker,  Stone,  Warham,  scholars  of  renown  from  Oxford,  Cam- 
bridge, from  the  best  pulpits}  whom  the  Church  of  England 
could  ill  spare,  and  yet  with  too  much  of  non-conformity  in  their 
bones ;  they  must  go — they  must  breathe  freer  air.  They  settle 
in  Roxbury,  Newtown,  Dorchester,  Watertown.  And  again, 
westward  ho!  These  hives  must  swarm.  Pynchon  has  lived  in 
Roxbury  scarce  a  year,  when  three  Indian  Sachems  come  from 
fair  Connecticut.  They  bring  rich  furs — beaver,  otter,  fox,  and 
wolf,  and  mink.  They  tell  of  their  great  river,  fertile  meadows, 
the  salmon,  bass,  and  shad,  and  sturgeon.  John  Cable  and  John 
Woodcock  go  to  explore.  They  bring  back  a  good  report. 


27 

William  Pynchon  himself  explores;  the  western  fever  grows, 
and  while  the  people  of  the  bay  protest,  the  boldest  spirits,  most 
enterprising,  the  very  elect,  prepare  to  go.  The  Watertown 
people  with  Henry  Smith,  Pynchon's  son-in-law,  to  Wethersfield; 
the  Newtown  or  Cambridge  people,  with  Thomas  Hooker,  to 
Hartford ;  the  Dorchester  people  with  John  Warham,  to  Wind- 
sor. The  Roxbury  people  will  soon  follow  Pynchon  to  Agawam. 
There  is  romance  in  those  paths.  The  leave-takings  with  old 
neighbors,  the  Indian  trail  through  dim  old  woods  and  boggy 
marshes,  the  river  fords,  the  ringing  axes,  the  camp-fires  under 
lofty  pines  or  by  some  gurgling  brook,  the  feebler  women  borne 
on  litters,  the  little  children  lulled  to  sleep  upon  their  hemlock 
beds  by  the  soughing  in  the  tree-tops,  frightened  by  the  screech 
owl,  the  baying  wolf,  or  painted  Indian;  the  processions  of 
lowing  cattle,  and  the  shouting  boys,  the  pack  horses,  armed 
men  with  trusty  match-locks  ;  at  morn  and  night  the  prayers  and 
psalms  when  each  pastor,  with  his  own  church  about  him, 
invokes  the  Almighty  care : — 

"  And  they  shook  the  depths  of  the  forest  gloom 
With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer.*' 

It  is  the  1st  of  May,  1636.  William  Pynchon  starts  with  his 
Roxbury  neighbors  by  the  old  bay  path  to  Agawam.  Their  bulkier 
goods  have  already  gone  round  by  water  in  John  Winthrop's 
shallop,  the  "Blessing  of  the  Bay''  Learned,  gifted,  wealthy, 
devout,  every  way  qualified  for  leadership,  Pynchon  becomes  the 
father  of  Springfield,  as  he  had  been  the  father  of  Roxbury. 
Already  his  eye  had  taken  in  the  choice  localities.  Hear  the 
sixth  article  of  agreement  between  Pynchon  and  his  associates : 
"The  Long  meddowe  called  Massacksick,  lying  in  the  way  to 
Dorchester  [now  Windsor]  shall  be  distributed  to  every  man  as 
'we  shall  think  meete."  A  few  days  after  he  purchases  the 
"  Long  meddowe"  from  those  ancient  Indians  of  Agawam,  Com- 


28 

muck,  and  Matanchan ;  and  in  particular  with  the  consent  of 
Machetuhood,  Wenepawin,  and  Mohemoos,  "for  4  fathom  of 
wampum,  4  coates,  4  hatchets,  4  howes,  and  4  knifes."  "And 
the  said  Pynchon  doth  further  condition  with  the  said  InHians 
that  they  shall  have  and  enjoy  all  the  ground  which  is  now 
planted;  and  have  liberty  to  take  fish  and  deer,  ground-nuts, 
walnuts,  acorns,  and  peas.  And  also  if  any  cattle  spoil  their 
corn,  to  pay  as  it  is  worth." 

These  Indians  were  not  cheated.  It  was  "value  received." 
They  attached  little  value  to  the  land  they  sold  that  they  did  not 
still  retain.  They  had  repeatedly  and  urgently  invited  Pynchon 
and  his  friends.  They  saw  the  great  advantage  of  their  coming, 
in  a  ready  market  for  their  furs,  in  the  tools,  the  cloth,  the  many 
equivalents  and  increments  of  their  welfare.  For  forty  years 
they  lived  in  perfect  unity  with  our  fathers,  and  they  had  con- 
tinued so  but  for  outside  influences  of  distant  tribes  and  the 
wily  machinations  of  King  Philip.  They  were  not  numerous 
enough,  they  were  too  idle  and  roving  to  really  possess  the  land. 
Fearfully  decimated  by  the  small-pox  before  our  fathers  came, 
thinned  again  by  intestine  wars,  sometimes  for  miles  not  a  single 
wigwam,  it  was  a  vacant  domain,  although  they  gathered  more 
numerously  about  the  great  river  where  fish  abounded  and  the 
beavers  built  their  dams.  There  was  a  village  on  Pecowsic 
brook,  a  palisaded  fort  on  Long  hill,  a  burial-ground  on  yonder 
river  bank,  its  skeletons  revealed  from  time  to  time  by  the 
prying  river.  Their  scattered  arrow-heads  and  pottery,  and  rude 
implements  of  tillage  often  remind  us  of  them,  but  never  to 
condemn  our  fathers. 

The  scene  changes.  It  is  the  5th  of  October,  1675,  at  dead 
of  night.  Listen !  On  the  river  road  in  yonder  meadow,  the 
clatter  of  flying  hoofs.  Why  this  headlong  haste  ?  A  messenger 
from  Windsor.  King  Philip  the  night  before  has  led  by  winding 


29 

ways  and  noiseless  stealth,  three  hundred  of  his  Indians  into 
Long  hill  fort.  He  waits  a  day  before  the  sack  of  Springfield 
for  his  scouts  to  go  to  Hartford  and  effect  the  escape  of  certain 
hostages  the  Springfield  people  have  in  durance  there.  On 
their  way  they  have  let  out  their  dreadful  secret  to  Toto,  a 
Windsor  Indian  in  Mr.  Wolcott's  family.  He  betrays  it  in  his 
looks — they  wrest  it  from  him,  and  their  messenger  speeds  the 
warning.  When  our  Longmeadow  settlers  hear  the  war-whoop 
from  Long  hill  and  see  the  smoke  of  Springfield  they  look  well 
to  their  powder  and  their  bullets.  Each  house  becomes  a  fort. 
They  fetch  their  harvests  in  with  one  wary  eye  toward  the  river 
and  the  other  toward  the  hill-side;  they  keep  their  muskets 
primed. 

The  mild  winter  merges  into  spring.  Skulking  Indians  are 
about,  but  thus  far  they  are  unmolested.  On  the  26th  of  March 
they  muster  courage  to  go  to  church.  They  are  eighteen — men, 
women,  and  children.  They  have  just  passed  through  the  Long- 
meadow  gate,  and  are  descending  Pecowsic  hill ;  the  war-whoop 
halts  them  ;  the  arrows  fly  ;  John  Keep  falls  dead ;  his  wife  and 
two  children  receive  mortal  wounds ;  some  of  the  rest  are  taken 
captive.  Before  this,  in  the  sunny  meadow,  peace,  tranquil  indus- 
tries, the  growing  thrift  of  happy  homes.  But  now  to  the  hard 
discipline  of  work  joins  the  tougher  discipline  of  war — the  con- 
stant watch  for  ambushed  foes.  Every  boy  over  15  is  counted  a 
soldier;  there  is  a  training  day  every  month ;  the  "Worshipful 
Major"  John  Pynchon  is  in  chief  command.  Good  soldiers  in 
those  days,  as  well  as  good  farmers  and  good  Christians.  En- 
signs Cooley,  Keep,  Stebbins,  Quartermaster  George  Colton,  and 
best  officer  of  them  all,  our  Miles  Standish, — Captain  Thomas 
Colton.  How  the  Indians  feared  him.  One  of  them  aims  at 
him  as  he  is  plowing  in  the  cornfield  from  behind  a  bush,  but  his 
hand  trembles,  and  he  dares  not  fire,  so  sure,  he  said,  that  if 


30 

he  should  miss  the  captain,  the  captain  would  make  an  end 
of  him. 

The  meadow  period  draws  to  its  close.  It  is  December,  1695. 
A  mighty  flood.  All  day  long  the  river  rises.  The  long 
meadow  is  a  sea.  Night  draws  on.  The  relentless  flood  swashes 
into  the  cellars,  above  the  floors,  puts  out  the  fires ;  and  still  it 
rises.  The  Cooleys,  dwelling  northward,  flee  to  Springfield  ;  the 
Blisses,  Burts,  and  Stebbinses  of  the  central  settlement,  row  for 
the  hill-side  and  spend  the  night  in  the  woods ;  the  Keeps  and 
Coltons,  dwelling  southward,  row  past  the  deserted  houses  to 
one  near  Cooley  brook,  and  there  venture  to  spend  the  night. 
They  will  risk  no  more  floods.  The  removal  to  the  hill  begins. 
This  spacious  street  is  located ;  the  new  home  lots  apportioned, 
and  our  present  village  grows  apace.  In  1709  was  born  the  last 
child  of  the  meadow  settlement,  Simon  Colton,  grandson  of  the 
quartermaster. 

Here  endeth  the  Meadow  or  Springfield  period.  Our  fathers 
have  been  selectmen  of  Springfield  long  enough  to  know  how  to 
set  up  for  themselves.  The  Precinct  period  begins.  "Although 
not  fully  up  to  the  number  of  forty  families,"  their  petition  to 
Great  and  General  Court  maintains  that  they  "  are  of  good 
and  sufficient  ability  to  maintain  a  minister."  The  petition  is 
granted.  A  separate  precinct  for  the  gospel  ministry.  That  is 
the  crystalizing  thought.  At  the  second  precinct  meeting 
"Honorable  Colonel"  Pynchon,  moderator,  the  first  vote  is  to 
raise,  shingle,  and  clapboard  a  meeting-house  by  January  ist 
ensuing,  32  by  38  feet,  place  left  to  the  prudential  committee ; 
another  committee  raised  "  to  provide  workmen  and  materials  to 
carry  on  the  work  to  that  maturity  and  by  the  time  as  aforesaid." 
It  was  further  voted  "  to  call  a  learned  orthodox  minister  to 
dispense  the  word  of  God  to  us  this  winter,  and  that  the  com- 
mittee take  care  to  provide  such  a  minister  as  speedy  as  may  be, 


and  first  to  take  advice  of  the  Reverend  Elders  in  order  to  pro- 
vide one  suitable  for  us."  It  was  further  voted  "  to  git  or  have  a 
school-master  to  teach  or  learn  our  children  to  read  and  write." 

Here  is  your  republic  already  established — your  independent 
nation — in  rapid  process  of  equipment.  The  elders  advise,  and 
the  "learned  and  orthodox,"  that  is  the  correc tly  learned  minister, 
comes — Stephen  Williams,  a  youth  of  twenty-one,  a  graduate  of 
Harvard,  of  that  remarkable  family  ninety  and  more  of  whom  are 
enrolled  as  alumni  of  Harvard,  more  than  eighty  alumni  of  Yale, 
and  a  like  proportion  on  other  catalogues  ;  one  of  them  founder 
of  Williams  College  ;  another  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence ;  eminent  in  all  professions,  adorning  every  rank.  No 
aristocratic  child  of  ease,  however,  is  the  youthful  candidate. 
Taken  captive  by  the  Indians  at  ten  years  of  age,  he  has  early 
borne  the  yoke  of  fearful  sorrows  and  unusual  hardships.  A 
brother  and  sister  killed  on  that  dreadful  night  at  the  sack  of 
Deerfield,  his  gentle  mother  slain  upon  the  wintry  march,  he  has 
been  schooled  in  Indian  wigwams,  in  all  the  arts  of  woodcraft, 
among  the  Jesuits  of  Quebec,  as  well  as  in  college  cloisters.  He 
knows  already  much  of  men  and  their  affairs,  and  he  is  to  lay  the 
life-long  impress  of  a  rare  social  culture  and  a  wide  acquaintance 
on  the  Longmeadow  parish. 

It  is  his  ordination  day,  October  18,  1716,  just  one -hundred 
and  sixty-seven  years  ago  to-day.  A  great  assembly  held 
abroad.  Samuel  Keep  makes  suitable  provision  at  the  pre- 
cinct's cost  for  the  entertainment  of  the  reverend  elders  and 
other  gentlemen  that  may  be  present ;  application  made  to  the 
quarter  sessions  to  license  Nathaniel  Bliss  to  make  provision  for 
entertaining  the  promiscuous  crowd.  The  church  is  gathered : 
"  And  those  of  us  whose  names  are  hereto  suffixed  did  give  our- 
selves to  God  and  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  did  promise  to  walk 
together  in  a  faithful  attendance  of  all  God's  holy  institutions 


32 

in  order  to  His  glory,  and  the  edification  of  our  own  souls,  and 

the  souls  of  our  children 

STEPHEN  WILLIAMS,  NATHANIEL  BLISS,  2d, 

THOMAS  COLTON,  Sr.,  JONATHAN  ELY, 

DANIEL  COOLEY,  THOMAS  BLISS, 

GEORGE  COLTON,  SAMUEL  BLISS,  4th." 
NATHANIEL  BURT,  Jr., 

True  history  is  to  a  large  degree  personal.  It  revolves  around 
its  central  characters.  Such  were  these  nine  founders  of  the 
"First  Church  of  Christ  in  Longmeadow" — its  catholic  and 
unsectarian  name  ; — "  Congregational  "  is  the  suffix  of  a  later  day. 
Who  are  these  men  ?  Of  their  leader,  Stephen  Williams — in  the 
sum  total  of  his  character  and  molding  influence,  our  foremost 
man — I  shall  speak  hereafter.  Would  that  the  time  permitted 
me  to  make  larger  mention  of  these  laymen,  each  a  representa- 
tive of  our  leading  and  characteristic  families,  the  staunch  sup- 
porters who  called  Stephen  Williams-  to  his  work  and  gave  him 
his  opportunity.  I  trust  it  will  not  seem  invidious  if  I  select 
one  to  represent  the  rest.  These  men  and  their  associates,  with 
their  successors  of  later  day,  were  all  of  good  English  stock,  a 
remarkably  homogeneous  community,  some  entitled  to  the  address 
of  Mr.,  but  generally  yeomen  or  freeholders,  of  that  degree  in 
the  fatherland  next  to  the  English  gentry ;  singularly  independent, 
and  tenacious  of  their  personal  rights  ;  men  of  affairs  and  able 
to  manage  them  ;  not  so  highly  educated  as  William  Pynchon,  but 
understanding  the  supreme  value  of  mental  training,  they  will 
have  no  other  than  a  learned  ministry.  Omitting  then,  because 
compelled  to,  the  particular  mention  that  might  well  be  given  in 
large  detail  of  the  Coltons,  Burts,  Cooleys,  Blisses,  Elys,  Keeps, 
Hales,  Fields,  Stebbinses,  Wolworths,  Whites,  Steels,  Booths, 
Chandlers,  Coomeses,  Wolcotts,  Ashleys,  McGregorys,  Dwights, 
Peases,  and  other  honorable  names,  let  me  give  you  an  outline 


33 

sketch   of   one    man    from    our   most   numerous   family,    Capt. 
Thomas  Colton,  son  of  "  Quartermaster  George." 

"As  a  military  officer,"  says  Stephen  Williams  in  his  funeral 
sermon,  "  active,  forward,  daring,  ready  ;  upon  the  least  intima- 
tion of  hostile  approach,  upon  the  wing  ;  he  underwent  great 
hardships  and  fatigues  in  tedious  marches  all  night  long  ;  exact 
in  discipline,  yet  the  darling  of  his  company.  He  always 
began  and  ended  his  trainings  with  prayer ;  as  master  of  his 
family  a  very  Joshua  ;  as  a  neighbor  he  set  before  you  an  excel- 
lent pattern  of  industry  ;  always  ready  for  offices  of  love  and 
kindness  ;  of  a  catholic  spirit,  he  always  showed  a  great 
concern  for  the  public  ;  always  pleased  with  any  measures  for 
reformation  ;  he  was  very  remarkable  in  the  gift  and  grace  of 
prayer  ;  wonderful  in  the  aptness  and  pertinency  of  his  expres- 
sions. Oh  !  how  have  I  heard  him  wrestling  with  God  for  this 
place,  for  the  outpouring  of  his  spirit,  and  the  welfare  of  the  ris- 
ing generation."  These  are  but  a  few  bold  strokes  of  the  pic- 
ture. You  see  the  man. 

The  pastor  elect  is  not  married  ;  he  is  not  engaged.  But  he 
expects  to  be,  and  it  is  the  general  expectation.  He  delays  the 
acceptance  of  his  call  till  things  are  well  provided,  the  original 
terms  amended,  three  or  four  acres  fenced  and  broken  up  for  an 
orchard  in  the  home  lot  he  shall  choose,  two  more  lots  fenced 
out  forty  rods  backward  from  the  street;  .£200  settlement.  The 
young  minister  is  sagacious  ;  "  £55  for  this  present  year  and  if 
God  continue  him  in  the  ministry  among  us,  to  add  as  we  are 
able,  and  his  circumstances  may  require,"  is  too  hypothetical. 
When  Nathaniel  Burt  and  Samuel  Bliss  are  chosen  "to  goto  Mr. 
Williams  and  acquaint  him  with  the  mind  of  the  society  " — they 
come  back.  Instructed  at  another  meeting,  to  report  better 
terms,  "and  further  to  add  to,  or  to  add  to  if  his  necessity  calls 
for  it,"  they  go,  and  come  back  again ;  until  finally,  at  another 
5 


34 

meeting  of  the  precinct,  the  Honored  Col.  Pynchon  being  pres- 
ent, it  is  voted  without  any  "  ifs "  or  contingencies  of  provi- 
dence, "at  the  end  of  eight  years  from  May  4,  1715,  to  add 
to  Mr.  Williams's  salary  (which  will  then  be  .£70)  X$  per 
annum."  And  now,  he  accepts  the  call,  and  although  seven 
months  before  his  ordination,  proceeds  to  build  his  house.  It  is 
two  storied,  with  huge  central  chimney,  generous  fireplace,  spa- 
cious north  and  south  rooms  and  ample  kitchen,  built  for  a  large 
family  and  hospitable  intentions.  The  diary  reads  :  "  This  morn- 
ing I  heard  that  my  neighbor  Brooks  is  uneasy  because  of  my 
house  being  so  stately.  I  have  heard  of  others  that  speak  meanly 
and  reproachfully  of  me.  God  forgive  them  and  help  me  heartily 
to  do  it.  O  Lord,  help  me  to  walk  inoffensively,  so  that  none 
may  have  occasion  to  speak  ill  of  me ;  help  me,  O  Lord,  to  do 
my  duty,  and  by  no  means  to  neglect  that,  to  curry  favor  with 
man.  Man  had  better  be  angry  with  me  than  God."  This  is 
the  key-note  of  all  his  patient  and  successful  future. 

He  is  setting  himself  down  for  a  ministry  of  sixty-six  years — 
but  he  needs  a  wife.  It  is  the  wedding  day,  July  3,  1718.  The 
Stamford  meeting-house  is  packed.  Father  Williams  begins  with 
prayer;  Father  Davenport  preaches,  and  then  joins  his  daughter 
Abigail  to  the  Longmeadow  minister.  Another  prayer  and 
singing,  and  the  bridegroom  remarks:  "Being  before  so  great 
an  assembly,  it  made  the  case  look  very  solemn  to  me," — and 
quite  as  solemn  to  the  bride,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  reveren- 
tial style  of  a  letter  to  her  lover  a  few  days  before  the  wedding. 

Reverend  and  Worthy  Sir:  Missing  the  opportunity  by  our  Deputies 
of  Sending  a  few  Lines,  but  willing  to  Gratify  you  in  that  which  you  was 
pleased  when  here  to  say  would  be  a  particular  Gratification  to  you,  in  doing 
of  which  Good  Sir,  I  would  desire  might  not  be  for  my  being  exposed,  altho' 
there  may  be  justly  faults  found  by  your  critical  eye,  yet  I  would,  if  I  did 
but  know  how  Modestly  crave  your  favorable  thought,  hoping  that  these 
lines  may  find  you  in  good  health,  as  at  present  I  am,  through  ye  goodness 


35 

of  God,  for  which  I  desire  to  be  thankful.  .  .  .  Please,  Good  Sir,  to 
pardon  my  boldness  and  freedom  as  to  one  thing,  which  might  have  been 
spoken  to,  but  was  not  when  you  was  here.  'Tis  Customary  by  some  to  have 
Gloves  alike  for  color.  If  you  pleas  to  have  them  like  mine,  Sir,  you  may 
get  white.  Valuable  Sir,  be  not  angry,  if  one  who  would  desire  to  be  made  a 
comfort  rather  than  a  trouble  to  you,  should  desire  a  remembrance  by  you 
in  your  petitions  at  ye  throne  of  grace.  Suffer  me  to  beg  your  pardon  once 
again  for  my  burdening  you  with  such  scrolls.  I  would  not  be  tedious,  but 
Subscribe  myself,  Sir,  your  very  observant,  and  hopefully  well  affected, 

ABIGAIL  DAVENPORT. 

It  is  a  festal  day  when  the  happy  pair  escorted  by  their  cavalcade 
draw  rein  like  Canterbury  pilgrims  at  the  new  Longmeadow 
parsonage.  Their  neighbors  have  prepared  a  royal  feast.  There 
are  anagrams  too,  and  acrostics,  "  On  the  happy  marriage  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Stephen  Williams  with  that  virtuous  gentlewoman, 
Madam  Abigail  Davenport."  Let  us  quote  a  specimen  line 

or  two  : 

How  happily  two  names  are  mett, 

Two  names  of  note  and  of  Renown  ; 

The  foremost  here  in  order  sett 

Is  Stephen  which  denotes  a  crown 

The  other  name  is  Abigail, 

A  Father's  joy  it  signifies  ; 

Which  Twain  conjoyning  will  not  not  fail 

Of  sounding  forth  sweet  Harmonys. 

The  Precinct  and  the  Pastor  are  fairly  launched.  They  man- 
age the  temporalities;  his  is  the  care  of  souls;  —  and  yet.no 
cloistered  monk  or  moldy  celibate,  he  has  enough  of  worldly 
business  to  make  him  practical,  to  identify  him  with  his  people's 
daily  life.  He  must  take  care  of  his  orchard  after  they  have 
broken  it  up ;  improve  the  ministry  lands  that  are  perquisites  of 
his  salary  ;  turn  the  various  grains  that  stand  for  half  his  stipend 
into  beef  and  milk  and  pork  ;  must  know  how  to  deal  with  hired 
men,  and  with  men  of  high  degree,  to  entertain  strangers,  to 


36 

consult  and  advise  in  a  thousand  cases  that  demand  prudence, 
courage,  tact,  and  sympathy. 

The  people  accord  a  certain  pre-eminence  to  their  minister, 
but  it  is  no  blind  loyalty.  They  are  very  sturdy  in  their  inde- 
pendence. They  will  do  their  own  work  in  their  own  way,  their 
own  time,  in  open  meeting,  under  their  own  moderator,  and  he  a 
layman.  Everything  must  be  discussed  and  re-discussed,  voted 
up  and  voted  down.  Out  of  this  "  heats  and  uneasiness,"  but 
these  are  incidental  to  the  republican  training.  The  anxious 
pastor  prays  continually,  and  the  meeting-house  progresses 
gradually;  at  first,  the  square,  barn-like  frame,  pyramidal  roof, 
and  central  bell-tower,  but  no  bell  for  twenty-seven  years, — 
voted  often,  and  as  often  reconsidered.  Meanwhile  Deacon 
Nathaniel  Burt  goes  up  and  down  the  street  beating  the  drum. 
At  first  only  the  ground  floor,  rude  benches,  the  women  seated 
by  themselves  on  the  west  side,  then  two  glass  windows  on  the 
south  side ;  as  the  years  progress,  the  gallery  floor ;  after  thir- 
teen years,  the  walls  lathed  and  plastered.  By  and  by,  two 
more  glass  windows  on  the  north  side.  They  pay  as  they  go. 
Meanwhile  the  burying-ground,  a  pound,  the  school-house,  and  a 
bier.  At  length  three  pews, — an  aristocratic  innovation — care- 
fully located  at  the  lower  end  in  the  place  of  two  hind  seats,  and 
eyed  with  jealous  circumspection — but  once  builded,  of  course, 
another  pew  for  Mr.  Williams's  family.  Next,  green  plush  for  a 
pulpit  cushion,  then  three  pews  more  voted,  and  voted  down. 
But  at  last  the  pews  get  the  better  of  the  benches.  The  meet- 
ing-house in  this  slow  way  of  getting  finished  grows  old  enough 
to  need  repairs. 

It  is  1764,  the  fifty-first  year  of  the  Precinct  period.  The 
question  is  put  "  whether  the  precinct  will  proceed  to  build  a 
new  meeting-house  for  the  public  worship  of  God — passed  in  the 
affirmative."  A  committee  raised  to  get  the  best  information 


37 

about  the  respective  cost  of  a  brick  or  a  wooden  meeting-house. 
It  is  voted  to  build  a  wooden  house.  But  in  due  time  the  ques- 
tion of  a  brick  house  is  renewed.  Some  months  after,  the  ques- 
tions are  put  to  the  precinct  separately — whether  to  repair  the 
old  house  or  build  a  new  one ;  and  both  passed  in  the  negative. 
These  actions  and  counter  actions  proceed  till  in  the  lingering 
course  of  time  "  a  new  timber  meeting-house "  is  voted,  and  a 
committee  raised  to  provide  hospitable  entertainment,  both 
victuals  and  drink,  for  the  raising,  June  17,  1767,  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  years  ago. 

It  is  raising  day ;  a  great  concourse  of  people.  "  I  prayed 
with  them,"  writes  Stephen  Williams,  "  in  the  old  meeting-house 
at  eleven  of  the  clock.  They  went  on  prosperously ;  got  up  the 
north  side  to  the  roof,  and  the  east  end  in  part."  When  the 
workmen  stop  at  night  Mr.  Williams  prays  again  and  gives  thanks 
with  the  people.  This  is  Wednesday.  On  Thursday,  Friday, 
Saturday,  and  the  next  Monday,  the  same  services  at  morning 
and  at  night.  On  Tuesday  the  steeple  is  raised,  and  the  raising 
is  complete.  "  At  night,"  Stephen  Williams  writes,  "  we  went 
into  the  old  meeting-house,  and  I  prayed  and  gave  thanks  with 
the  people,  and  we  sang  a  psalm, 

'  Praised  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  " 

It  is  a  Sabbath  day,  one  hundred  years  ago.  The  second  bell — 
first  peal.  From  north  and  south  and  east  the  tribes  come  up— 
the  whole  population,  afoot,  in  wagons — the  farm  wagons  without 
springs.  Some  are  drawn  by  horses,  the  rest  by  oxen.  The 
women  and  the  younger  children  and  old  men  sit  on  straight 
backed  chairs  or  milking  stools ;  the  young  men  and  maidens, 
and  the  boys,  line  the  wayside.  The  bell  begins  to  toll.  The 
congregation  throng  the  meeting-house  steps,  the  porches,  and 
the  aisles.  It  is  the  day  of  greetings,  the  social  exchange,  the 
newsday.  Dr.  Williams  at  length  emerges  from  the  parsonage 


200084 


38 

in  gown  and  bands  and  powdered  wig,  three-cornered  hat,  knee 
breeches,  silk  or  woolen  stockings  and  silver  shoe  buckles.  The 
bell  will  not  stop  tolling  till  he  passes  through  the  massive 
double  door  with  iron-handled  latch  and  into  the  high  pulpit, 
with  its  carved  work  of  grapes  and  pomegranates  under  the 
great  sounding  board.  The  deacons  are  seated  in  their  railed 
pew,  beneath  the  pulpit. 

There  is  no  stove.  For  fifty-one  years  the  frosty  air  of  the 
new  meeting-house  was  only  mitigated  by  the  women's  foot- 
stoves  and  the  cracking  together  of  frozen  boot-heels.  The  par- 
son sometimes  preached  in  heavy  homespun  cloak  and  woolen 
mittens,  and  at  the  nooning,  grateful  indeed  was  the  roaring  fire 
in  the  great  kitchen  of  the  parsonage,  at  the  tavern  bar-room,  at 
all  the  hospitable  neighbors'  open  houses.  Comforting  were  the 
home-made  lunches,  the  apples  roasting  on  the  hearth,  the  cider, 
the  hot  cider,  that  is  to  say — the  flip.  The  congregation  stand 
up  to  pray, — bodily  infirmity  alone  prevents.  If  one  sits  down  in 
prayer-time,  it  is  a  sudden  and  emphatic  protest  against  the  par- 
son's praying  for  the  king  and  royal  family.  That  habit  clings 
to  Dr.  Williams  a  little  beyond  the  patriotic  sufferance.  Not  that 
he  is  a  "  tory,"  or  "  inimical  to  the  liberties  of  America,"  by  any 
settled  convictions ;  only  an  old  man,  to  whom  the  times  look 
dark,  and  "fears  are  in  the  way."  In  due  time  he  reads  from 
the  pulpit,  though  not  without  some  misgivings,  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  gives  his  benedictions  to  the  soldiers  as 
they  march  from  the  church  door  to  the  camp  of  General  Wash- 
ington. For  fifty  years  the  congregation  sit  down  to  sing ;  but 
after  the  deacon  has  ceased  to  line  out  the  psalm,  and  the  pitch- 
pipe  no  longer  toots,  and  the  singing-master  has  organized  the 
choir,  and  the  bass  viols  and  flutes  conspire  with  young  men  and 
maidens  to  make  a  joyful  noise,  they  rise  up,  and  face  about  to 
see  the  choir.  Alas !  the  strife  that  raged  awhile  between  the 


39 

Psalter  and  Watts's  Hymns  ;  between  the  free  singing  and  that 
by  rote — the  unheavenly  dissonance — "  left,"  as  Thomas  Walter, 
the  Roxbury  pastor  says,  "  to  the  mercy  of  every  unskilful  throat 
to  chop  and  alter,  twist  and  change,  according  to  their  diverse 
fancies;  and,  so  little  attention  paid  to  time,  that  they  were 
often  one  or  two  words  apart,  producing  noises  so  hideous  and 
disorderly  as  is  bad  beyond  expression." 

The  gallery  of  the  new  meeting-house  runs  around  the  east, 
south  and  west  walls,  square  pews  line  the  gallery  walls,  the  negro 
pew  is  in  the  southwest  corner,  the  boys  of  twelve  occupy  the  next 
pew,  the  boys  of  fourteen  the  next,  those  of  eighteen  the  next,  it 
having  the  extra  advantage  of  a  window,  and  the  boys  of  sixteen 
the  last  pew  on  that  side.  A  similar  arrangement  for  the  girls  in 
the  eastern  gallery;  the  single  men  and  women  of  discreet  age 
occupy  the  pews  lining  the  south  gallery  wall.  The  choir  seats 
run  all  around  the  gallery  front,  and  the  smaller  children  sit  on 
benches  directly  behind  the  choir.  In  such  an  arrangement  the 
necessity  for  tything  men  is  great.  Dr.  Baxter  Dickinson, 
successor  to  Mr.  Storrs,  told  me  that  once,  praying  under 
difficulties  from  singular  noises  in  the  gallery,  and  having  lost 
his  nominative  case,  he  was  constrained  to  open  his  eyes,  when 
lo  ! — a  red-haired  boy  in  the  process  of  being  twitched  over  the 
pew  rail  by  our  now  venerable  friend,  David  Booth,  but  hanging 
on — as  only  a  red-haired  boy  can  and  will — to  the  balusters  with 
both  hands  so  successfully,  that  with  a  fearful  crash  the  whole 
railing  had  to  come  with  the  boy.  The  seats  of  honor  are  in 
the  broad  aisle  pews  below,  nearest  the  pulpit ;  the  pews  are 
all  free,  but  the  seating  committee  assign  them.  They  are  first 
instructed  "to  wait  on  Dr.  Williams  and  know  his  pleasure 
what  pew  in  the  meeting-house  he  chooses  for  his  family  to 
sit  in."  But  after  that,  no  easy  task  this  "  dignifying  the  hp.use." 
Age  is  one  consideration,  property  another,  standing  another. 


40 

Such  as  Nathaniel  Ely,  Moses  Field,  Deacon  Aaron  Colton, 
Leftenant  Hale,  with  their  wives,  may  be  put  into  the  same  pew 
with  mutual  satisfaction  and  the  common  consent,  but  such  is 
human  nature,  sanctified  or  unsanctified,  that  as  the  assortments 
go  on,  the  utmost  wisdom  of  the  wisest  fails. 

The  Precinct  period  resounds  from  first  to  last  with  the  noise  of 
war.  The  village  trainings  are  no  mere  holiday  parades.  Queen 
Anne's  war,  which  summons  to  savage  fights  Captain  Thomas  Col- 
ton  and  his  brave  comrades,  is  followed  by  a  few  years'  rest.  In 
1744  breaks  out  the  French  and  Indian  war,  which  calls  to  bloody 
fields  Captain  Moses  Field,  Lieutenant  Nathaniel  Burt,  and  their 
fellow-soldiers.  Stephen  Williams  goes  with  them  as  chaplain. 

It  is  June  25,  1755.  The  drum  and  fife  announce  that  Deacon 
Lieutenant  Nathaniel  Burt  is  ready  with  his  company  to  start  for 
the  front.  "The  soldiers  of  this  place,"  writes  Stephen  Williams, 
"  gathered  at  Deacon  Burt's.  I  went  over  to  the  deacon's  ;  we 
sang  the  I2ist  psalm  and  prayed  together,  and  then  they  went 
off  to  town.  Soldiers  passing  along,  one  company  after  another." 
And  soon  the  reverend  chaplain  himself  follows,  to  engage  in  the 
military  service  through  three  campaigns ;  to  Louisburg  under 
Sir  William  Pepperell,  to  Crown  Point  under  Sir  William  John- 
son, to  Lake  George  under  General  Winslow ;  and  repeatedly 
urged  to  go  again,  after  failing  health  had  compelled  his  return 
from  the  hardships  of  the  camp.  A  few  days  after  is  the  fierce 
battle  at  Lake  George ;  Deacon  Burt  is  killed  with  his  Colonel, 
Ephraim  Williams. 

The  sad  message  in  the  handwriting  of  Chaplain  Stephen  Wil- 
liams is  read  on  the  Sabbath  day  to  the  Longmeadow  congrega- 
tion. Mrs.  Sarah  Burt,  the  widow,  faints  on  hearing  it  and  is 
carried  out,  but  revives,  to  marry,  by  and  by,  her  reverend  pastor. 
The  local  poet  of  that  day,  "  Clark  Stebbins,"  (Longmeadow 
has  never  wanted  for  poets)  in  his  requiem  portrays  the  scene. 


41 

At  length  a  courier  the  sad  tidings  brought, 

Of  a  most  bloody  battle  Lately  fought 

Between  New  England  Troops  and  Gallic  foe 

Which  spread  the  plain  with  a  promiscuous  woe, 

But  yet  no  certain  Tydings  we  could  hear 

Which  held  us  in  suspense,  Twixt  hope  and  fear, 

Until  a  Reverend  Letter  passed  the  plain 

With  the  sad,  mournful  news,  Brave  Burt  is  Slain. 

Struck  with  Surprize,  the  whole  assembly  stood 

Drowned  in  silence  and  a  Briny  flood. 

His  Consort  Dear  Just  heard  the  awful  sound, 

And  sighed,  and  groaned,  and  sunk  unto  the  ground." 

A  few  years  of  outward  peace  ;  but,  gathering  clouds  and 
lightning  flashes  of  murky  discontent.  The  Revolution  is  at 
hand.  April  20,  1775.  "This  mbrning,  as  soon  as  it  was  light, 
the  drum  beat  and  three  alarm  guns.  The  story  is  that  some  of 
the  British  troops  have  marched  from  Boston  to  seize  military 
stores  at  Lexington  or  Concord.  But  accounts  vague,  uncertain. 
Our  minute-men  are  gone  to  town."  April  21,  "This  morning  at 
four  o'clock  another  message.  A  smart  engagement  at  Concord 
between  the  regulars  and  our  people;  many  killed;  'Tis  said 
houses  burnt,  women  and  children  killed ;  more  men  are  going 
forth.  I  prayed  with  a  company."  David  Burt  was  Captain, 
John  Hale,  Lieutenant;  Sergeants,  Ebenezer  Cclton,  Samuel 
Keep ;  Corporals,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Josiah  Cooley,  and  for  privates 
more  Burts,  Blisses,  Coltons,  Stebbinses,  David  White,  John  Ack- 
ley,  and  the  rest  —  on  the  quick  step  —  off  "  to  assist  our  breth- 
ren at  Lexington,"  and  as  their  colors  disappear,  "  we  met,"  says 
Stephen  Williams,  "in  the  meeting-house  for  prayers." 

And  now,  turmoils,  heats,  suspicions,  alarms  by  night  and  day, 
the  times  that  try  men's  souls.  No  quiet  like  ours  to-day.  They 
were  paying  its  great  price  for  us. 

It  is  midnight,  July  24,  1776.  A  company  of  men,  headed  by 
Nathaniel  Ely,  Festus  Colton,  and  Azariah  Woolworth,  with 


42 

faces  blacked  and  variously  disguised,  attack  the  house  of  Mer- 
chant Samuel  Colton  ;  seize  his  rum,  salt,  and  molasses ;  carry 
them  away,  and  appoint  Jabez  Colton — the  village  "man  of 
affairs,"  Yale  graduate,  classical  teacher,  familiarly  known  as 
"  Master  Jabe," — guardian  and  salesman.  Merchant  Colton's 
wife  peeping  through  the  shutters  has  keenly  scrutinized  the 
mob  and  their  disguise  does  not  avail.  So  broken  in  spirit  was 
Merchant  Colton  by  this  outrage  of  his  neighbors  that  he  never 
after  spoke  aloud.  At  the  close  of  the  war  they  were  sued,  and 
judgment  was  rendered  against  them  in  favor  of  one  Church, 
who  proved  his  ownership  of  a  part  of  the  abstracted  goods. 
Apprehending  further  suits,  they  petition  the  General  Court  for 
an  act  of  indemnity,  and  are  met  by  a  counter  petition.  Both 
papers  display  shrewd  ability.  The  patriotic  robbers  plead  the 
absence  of  statute  law  that  succeeded  for  a  time  the  declaration 
of  independence, — the  necessity  that  knows  no  law.  Merchant 
Colton  pleaded  the  natural  equity  of  private  rights  which  is  the 
fundamental  source  of  law  —  that  without  law,  liberty  is  license, 
and  independence  but  a  sorry  farce.  The  act  of  indemnity  was 
passed. 

One  of  the  last  lessons  of  valuable  experience  the  precinct 
learned  was  that  of  "fiat  money."  In  1780  Dr.  Williams  was 
voted  a  salary  of  $22,500  in  Continental  currency;  corn  rated  at 
$38  per  bushel,  rye  $50,  wheat  $84.  "What  will  you  take  for 
those  fine  oxen  ? "  said  a  speculator,  with  his  pockets  full  of  Con- 
tinental money,  to  a  Longmeadow  farmer  plowing  in  his  field. 
"Don't  you  want,"  was  the  significant  reply,  "to  sell  that  fine 
horse  of  yours,  and  take  your  pay  in  yellow  butterflies  after  har- 
vest—  and  catch  'em  yourself?"  Among  the  last  votes  of  the 
precinct  is  a  grant  of  ^30,  good  money,  to  the  family  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Williams,  deceased,  and  the  first  thought  of  the  newly- 


43 

incorporated  town  is  to  raise  a  monumental  table  over  his 
honored  grave. 

His  ministry  of  sixty-six  years,  rounds  out  the  precinct 
period.  The  last  time  he  appears  abroad,  his  loving  and  beloved 
deacons  tenderly  carry  him  in  his  arm-chair-across  the  green,  and 
help  his  tottering  steps  into  the  deacon's  seat  —  for  he  cannot 
mount  the  pulpit  stairs.  They  hear,  with  tearful  eyes,  his  last 
address,  bring  to  him  three  little  ones  for  his  parting  blessing 
in  the  rite  of  holy  baptism,  and  then  carry  him  back  to  the 
home  he  builded  in  his  youthful  vigor — in  a  few  days  more  to 
die  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age.  At  the  funeral,  a  great 
assembly — and  the  sermon  by  his  devoted  friend,  Robert  Breck, 
a  very  tender  and  eloquent  tribute  which  may  still  be  found  in 
print,  to  the  worthiest  name  that  our  history  enshrines.1  He  was 
firm,  gentle,  prudent,  patient,  earnest ;  of  genuine  humility  and 
devoted  piety;  widely  known  and  as  thoroughly  respected;  his 
counsel  sought  far  beyond  his  parish  bounds;  his  influence  and 
usefulness  increasing  to  the  very  verge  of  his  life. 

He  is  so  thoroughly  sincere;  everybody  trusts  him;  a  peace- 
maker, full  of  magnanimous  sensibilities.  "  This  day  Lieutenant 
Cooley  and  Captain  Burt  came  here.  They  had  been  here  many 
times  before,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  discourse,  they  were  brought 
to  join  hands  and  say  that  they  desired  heartily  to  forgive  one 
another.  I  drew  up  something  which  they  signed."  And  so  a 
bitter  and  disastrous  feud  was  healed.  The  next  Sabbath  the 

1  In  his  address  to  his  fellow  clergymen  at  the  funeral  Mr.  Breck  says :  "  My 
brethren,  it  has  pleased  God  to  remove  from  us  our  father  who  has  been  for  many 
years  at  our  head.  I  trust  that  we,  his  sons  in  the  ministry,  who  in  a  body  made 
him  a  visit  when  he  was  declining  fast,  will  never  forget  with  how  much  affection  he 
committed  us  and  our  flocks  to  God;  the  advices  he  gave  us;  the  fatherly  blessing 
he  bestowed  upon  us;  and  the  tenderness  with  which  he  took  his  last  leave  of  us.  I 
could  not  help  thinking  that  I  had  before  my  eyes  the  old  prophet  wrapped  in 
his  mantle,  just  stepping  into  his  chariot,  ready  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind  to  take 
his  flight  into  heaven.  My  brethren,  it  is  worth  while  to  live  as  our  father  Williams 
did,  if  it  was  only  to  die  as  he  did." 


44 

agreement  is  read  before  the  congregation,  and  the  good  pastor 
joins  to  it  an  earnest  and  loving  exhortation. 

He  is  a  plain  reprover.  "  This  day  I  again  discoursed  with  and 
very  severely  reproved  my  neighbor,  John  Colton,  for  his  drink- 
ing. I  told  him  I  desired  to  deliver  my  own  soul,  and  if  he 
should  perish,  his  blood  would  be  upon  his  own  head." 

He  is  a  social,  cheery,  hospitable  man.  The  parsonage 
abounds  with  guests;  hosts  of  relatives,  among  them  Rector 
Williams  of  Yale,  and  Col.  Ephraim,  founder  of  Williams  Col- 
lege. And  there  is  President  Wheelock  of  Dartmouth,  Presi- 
dent Holyoke  of  Harvard,  and  the  army  officers,  his  fellow-sol- 
diers in  three  campaigns,  and  Judges  Salstonstall  and  Sewall, 
and  the  other  judges,  whom  he  always  "  waits  upon"  when  they 
come  to  town  on  their  respective  circuits;  and  such  divines  as  Dr. 
Cooper,  Dr.  Coleman,  and  Jonathan  Edwards.  The  constant 
influx  of  these  guests,  the  sermons  of  the  best  preachers  in  the 
pulpit,  bring  into  the  village  a  culture  which  leavens  the  coming 
days. 

He  is  catholic  and  progressive;  is  not  afraid  of  novelties  and 
innovations;  encourages  the  new  hymns  and  the  singing-masters, 
and  the  pulpit  readings  of  the  Scriptures;  looks  kindly  at  the 
"New  Lights;"  will  not  multiply  the  "  Separates"  by  fighting 
them;  welcomes  George  Whitefield  when  it  is  the  clerical  fashion 
to  decry  him. 

He  is  philanthropic  and  public-spirited.  Beginning  at  home, 
his  charity  goes  all  abroad.  With  a  tender  eye  for  all  distressed 
persons,  he  scans  their  practical  necessities  and  presses  his 
people  for  contributions.  The  widow  Steele's  house  must  be 
shingled,  wood  must  be  sledded  to  the  widow  Aitchison.  Our 
Thanksgiving  collection  he  originated.  Our  Benevolent  Associa- 
tion is  but  the  unfolding  of  his  old  charity  meeting.  Our  weekly 


45 

conference  meeting  is  no  improvement  upon  his  frequent  meet- 
ings from  house  to  house,  and  the  sermons  that  he  so  often 
repeated  to  the  aged  and  the  invalid  at  home.  Our  Sunday- 
schools  impart  less  solid  instruction  than  his  frequent  catechis- 
ings  and  familiar  conferences  with  the  young  men  at  the  school- 
house  when  he  encouraged  them  to  propose  their  questions. 
Often  he  goes  to  Springfield  jail  to  visit  the  prisoners.  Brimful 
of  the  missionary  spirit,  his  heart  is  always  going  out  to  the 
Indians.  He  is  instrumental  in  securing  John  Sargeant  for 
.missionary  to  the  Stockbridge  tribe;  he  is  interpreter  for  the 
Housatonics  when  his  friend  Gov.  Belcher  meets  the  Indian 
congress  of  various  tribes  at  Deerfield.  Rejoicing  as  we  do  this 
day  in  so  many  honored  missionary  names  connected  with  Long- 
meadow, — the  Schaufflers,  Temples,  Raynoldses,  Calhouns, 
Blisses,  McQueens, — we  must  not  forget  the  benediction  and  the 
impulse  that  come  down  from  Stephen  Williams.  Eleazer  Wil- 
liams, the  reputed  "  Dauphin,"  descended  from  Eunice,  his 
captive  sister,  was  a  missionary  to  the  Iroquois  and  educated 
by  Deacon  Nathaniel  Ely. 

Our  foreign  missionaries  suggest  the  mention  of  our  foreign 
commerce.  Merchant  Colton,  the  richest  man  of  the  precinct, 
had  a  ship-yard  on  the  river  bank.  His  vessels,  the  Speedzvell 
and  the  Friendship,  were  launched  at  high  water,  floated  over 
Enfield  Falls,  rigged  at  Hartford,  laded  with  hoops  and  staves, 
ihese  exchanged  at  Havana  for  molasses,  and  this  sold  at  Bristol, 
England,  for  a  general  assortment  of  goods  to  be  distributed 
again  at  Piscataqua  —  now  Portsmouth  —  at  Boston,  and  at 
Longmeadow.  See  how  our  fathers  put  their  religion  into  their 
bills  of  lading :  — 

Shipped  by  the  grace  of  God  in  good  order  and  well  conditioned  by 
James  and  Dickinson,  and  in  and  upon  the  good  ship  called  the  Friendship, 
whereof  is  master  under  God  for  this  present  voyage,  Edward  Sargeant, 


46 

and  now  riding  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Bristol,  and  by  God's  grace  bound 
for  Piscataqua  —  to  say  ten  casks  of  naUs,  etc.,  on  the  proper  accommoda- 
tion and  risque  of  Mr.  Samuel  Colton.     ...     In  witness  whereof  the 
master  or  purser  of  the  said  ship  hath  affirmed  to  three  bills  of  lading,  etc. 
And  so  GOD  send  the  Good  Ship  to  her  desired  port  in  safety.     Amen. 

Dated  in  Bristol,  June  6,  1771. 

EDWARD   SARGEANT. 

The  Town  period,  —  our  recent  century,  —  may  be  briefly 
scanned;  for  it  is  simply  the  outcome  and  enlargement  of  the  pre- 
ceding periods.  It  is  the  receptacle  of  all  the  priceless  treasures 
accumulated  by  our  fathers'  sturdy  faith,  ceaseless  toil,  and  heroic 
sacrifice.  Do  we  see  further  than  they,  it  is  because  we  stand 
upon  their  shoulders.  Do  we  enjoy  more  than  they,  it  is  because 
they  suffered  for  us.  Do  we  build  better  than  they,  it  is  because 
they  discovered  the  quicksands  and  settled  the  foundations  firm. 
Have  we  peace  in  our  day,  'tis  because  they  fought  the  inevitable 
battles.  Even  as  our  towering  elms  derive  not  their  leafy 
crowns  and  royal  stature  from  the  sandy  surface,  but  from  the 
deep  clay  subsoil,  so  if  we  have  any  spreading  roots  of  character, 
or  our  institutions  any  permanent  vitality,  it  is  because  we  are 
planted  by  the  living  waters  of  our  historic  past.  "  The  child- 
ren of  Thy  servant  shall  continue,  and  their  seed  shall  be 
established  before  Thee." 

The  Town  period  opens  with  Shays's  Rebellion.  The  times 
are  out  of  joint.  The  people  are  generally  impoverished — dis- 
tressed with  debt,  crazy  over  paper  money ;  deceived  and  ruined 
by  it,  and  yet  wanting  more.  It  is  the  heyday  for  demagogues. 
The  courts  and  lawyers  are  denounced.  The  blind  remedy  is 
insurrection  ;  the  very  foundations  of  social  order  begin  to  rock, 
and  it  is  a  question  whether  the  American  Revolution  has  not 
been  fought  in  vain.  In  this  demoralized  state  of  things,  there 
is  among  many  of  our  people  too  much  disposition  to  shun  hard 
work,  to  haunt  the  taverns,  to  indulge  in  wrestling  matches  on 


47 

the  village  green.  John  Bliss  is  the  Longmeadow  bully  and  he 
magnifies  his  office.  Alpheus  Colton  is  the  captain  of  our 
insurgents,  and  brings  upon  himself  like  the  other  leaders  the 
sentence  of  death.  But  our  more  conservative  citizens  like 
Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely  and  Col.  Gideon  Burt  were  Gen.  Shephard's 
minute-men,  standing  by  the  guns  of  the  commonwealth  and 
the  federal  stores,  true  to  hard  work,  hard  money,  law  and  order. 
When  Shays  quarters  his  marauding  soldiers  on  Wilbraham,  and 
a  battle  seems  impending,  the  frightened  women  and  children 
of  Wilbraham  flee  for  refuge  to  Longmeadow. 

The  Town  period  opens  also  with  the  ministry  of  Richard 
Salter  Storrs.  He  is  a  fit  successor  to  his  great  uncle,  Stephen 
Williams,  connected  with  him  by  various  ties  of  blood,  which 
were  afterwards  renewed  by  his  marrying  for  his  second  wife 
Sarah  Williams,  granddaughter  of  his  predecessor.  Moreover 
Mr.  Storrs  had  been  singled  out  in  the  secret  choice  of  Dr. 
Williams,  some  three  years  before  he  began  to  preach,  for  his 
successor  in  the  Longmeadow  pastorate.  He  was  as  Elisha  to 
Elijah.  The  old  prophet's  mantle  fell  upon  him ;  he  entered 
into  his  labors,  reaped  what  he  had  sowed,  carried  out  his  line 
of  things,  and  by  essentially  the  same  methods.  Their  com- 
bined ministries  made  just  one  hundred  years,  and  that  century 
was  the  corner-stone  of  our  foundations. 

Mr.  Storrs,  like  his  predecessor,  was  ordained  in  the  fresh 
vigor  of  his  youth,  having  but  just  passed  his  majority.  The 
salutatorian  of  his  class  at  Yale,  his  superior  scholarship  and 
felicitous  address  had  already  excited  brilliant  expectations.  He 
was  far  more  eloquent  than  his  predecessor.  Of  commanding 
presence,  a  piercing  though  genial  eye,  strongly  built,  his  expres- 
sion bold  and  earnest,  suggestive  of  a  hidden  energy,  and  yet 
softened  by  a  warm  and  confiding  heart,  of  quick  sensibilities, 
and  lively  and  exuberant  imagination,  he  was  a  natural  orator 


48 

and  the  father  of  orators.  At  the  same  time  he  was  subject  by 
native  temperament  to  alternate  elations  and  depressions,  and 
harrassed  through  life  by  periodical  attacks  of  nervous  headache. 
These  constitutional  infirmities  fell  in  with  his  native  self-dis- 
trust and  dislike  of  publicity  to  keep  him  at  home,  a  dweller 
among  his  own  people  ;  not  therefore  so  widely  known  as  Dr. 
Williams,  nor  had  his  public  influence,  cut  off  in  his  prime  at 
the  age  of  fifty-six,  ripened  to  that  maturity  which  crowned  the 
old  age  of  his  predecessor.  But  in  the  chosen  sphere  of  his 
own  parish  and  in  all  this  region,  pre-eminently  admired  and 
beloved,  given  to  hospitality,  attractive  in  social  life,  a  son  of 
consolation.  He  was  peculiarly  gifted  in  public  prayer,  remark- 
able for  his  appropriateness,  copiousness,  fervor,  and  a  variety 
of  expression  that  suited  every  place  and  each  occasion.  The 
favorite  chaplain  on  the  muster-field,  well  mounted,  with  shin- 
ing Blucher  boots  and  cocked  hat,  he  delighted  in  the  hearty 
welcome  of  his  fellow-soldiers.  More  easily  stirred  and  not  so 
patient  as  his  predecessor,  he  was  a  little  ruffled  if  the  bell 
stopped  tolling  when  he  was  but  half  way  across  the  green. 
He  once  preached  with  all  sincerity  and  solemnity,  though  with  less 
necessity,  his  farewell  sermon.  It  relieved  his  mind  and  resulted 
in  his  continuance.  He  rode  home  from  the  First  Church  in 
Springfield  without  preaching  the  lecture  because  the  parish 
authorities  had  failed  of  their  repeated  promise  to  cut  down  an 
apple  tree  behind  the  pulpit  window,  which  had  too  often  obscured 
his  vision.  His  theology  was  of  the  Pauline  type,  and  while  he 
forgot  not  the  terrors  of  the  law,  he  delighted  more  in  the 
affectionate  entreaties  of  the  gospel.  He  magnified  the  divine 
sovereignty,  and  was  pertinacious  on  the  decrees. 

An  arrangement  having  been  made  with  his  brother,  Dr. 
Howard  of  Springfield,  for  exchanging  lectures,  they  meet  half 
way  on  horseback.  Says  Brother  Storrs :  "  Brother  Howard, 


49 

you  see  how  it  was  ordained  from  all  eternity  that  you  should 
preach  my  lecture."  Says  Brother  Howard :  "  I  don't  see  it ! 
And  if  it  was  so  decreed,  I'll  break  it ! "  The  good  brethren 
got  warm  ;  each  turned  his  horse  for  home.  But  Brother  Storrs 
has  the  parting  word :  "  If  you  won't  preach  my  lecture,  that 
was  decreed ! " 

It  would  be  but  ungracious,  unhistorical,  and  unfair,  should  I 
fail  to  connect  with  these  influential  pastors  the  less  conspicuous 
but  greatly  helpful  and  sustaining  power  of  their  godly  wives, — 
Abigail  Davenport,  Sarah  Chapin  Burt,  Sarah  Williston,  and 
Sarah  Williams.  And  these  names  are  singled  out  only  as 
representatives  of  that  goodly  company  of  the  Longmeadow 
women  who,  as  our  foremothers,  well  deserve  ancestral  honors. 
Even  as  they,  with  the  fathers,  are  laid  away  in  the  sacred  dust 
of  the  old  churchyard,  so,  side  by  side,  and  hand  in  hand,  and 
heart  to  heart,  they  lived  and  wrought  together.  It  was  from 
the  blazing  hearthstone  of  their  beloved  homes,  lit  up  most  of 
all  by  the  fervent  affections  of  mother,  daughter,  sister,  wife, 
that  our  fathers  went  forth  to  build  the  Church,  the  School,  the 
State.  It  was  ..woman's  influence  that  made  the  New  England 
home  the  unit  of  a  civilization  widely  different  from  that  of 
other  American  colonies,  where  Frenchman  and  Spaniard  fol- 
lowed, not  the  New  England  pastor,  but  the  celibate  priest, — 
not  the",Puritan  mother,  but  the  homeless  nun.  Let  the  tenderest 
memories  of  this  centennial  day  be  given,  in  our  common 
Mother's  name,  not  so  much  to  her  sons  as  to  her  daughters. 
"  Their  price  is  far  above  rubies.  The  hearts  of  their  husbands 
did  safely  trust  in  them.  They  girded  their  loins  with  strength, 
and  strengthened  their  arms  ;  they  laid  their  hands  to  the 
spindle,  and  their  hands  held  the  distaff;  they  stretched  out 
their  hands  to  the  poor ;  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  snow  for 
their  households ;  they  made  fine  linen  and  sold  it ;  they  deliv- 

7 


50 

ered  girdles  unto  the  merchant ;  strength  and  honor  were  their 
clothing ;  they  opened  their  mouths  with  wisdom,  and  in  their 
tongues  was  the  law  of  kindness ;  they  looked  well  to  the  ways 
of  their  households,  and  they  ate  not  the  bread  of  idleness. 
Their  children  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed.  Give  them  of  the 
fruit  of  their  hands  ;  and  let  their  own  works  praise  them  in  the 
gates ! " 

*The  Town  period  also  opens  with  a  public  library,  the  numer- 
ous subscribers  headed  by  Mr.  Storrs,  the  admirable  preamble 
and  constitution  drawn  by  "Master  Jabez  Colton." — (I  would 
that  the  time  allowed  to  name  the  whole  catalogue  of  our 
honored  pedagogues,  such  as  Rufus  P.  Stebbins,  John  Dixon, 
Sanford  Lawton,  William  Goldthwait) — our  town  clerk  and 
village  lawyer,  also ;  steadfast,  tenacious,  true,  ready  for  every 
good  work ;  the  lay  reader  of  sermons  when  the  pastor  was  ab- 
sent or  disabled  ;  and  on  Fast  days  he  read  the  annual  statutes 
of  the  commonwealth  from  the  broad  pulpit  stair.  There 
never  was  a  permanent  place  in  this  town  for  titled  lawyers  ;  for 
there  has  always  been  some  unprofessional  citizen  able  to  do  the 
needed  business. 

But  we  never  could  have  spared  the  village  doctor, — Dr. 
White,  Dr.  Stebbins,  Dr.  Frost,  Dr.  Bliss,  to  mention  no  more 
of  the  honorable  succession.  And  they  were  very  reasonable 
in  their  charges, — only  twenty  cents  for  a  visit,  thirteen  cents 
for  an  emetic, — and  not  without  an  occasional  trace  of  quack- 
ery, when  the  public  sentiment  clearly  called  for  it.  As  witness 
Dr.  Stebbins's  well-worn  "  Perkins'  Metallic  Tractors." 

It  is  a  little  before  Mr.  Storrs'  untimely  death  in  1819,  that 
the  seating  business  goes  out  and  with  it  compulsory  taxation. 
Here  is  one  of  the  old  warrants  from  Assessors  Ephraim  Colton, 
John  Hale,  and  Aaron  Cooley,  to  Nathaniel  Ely,  constable.  It 
includes  the  minister  rate  and  so  winds  up:  "And  for  want  of 


goods  or  chattels  whereon  to  make  distress,  you  are  to  seize  the 
body  or  bodies  of  the  person  or  persons  so  refusing,  and  him  or 
them  commit  unto  the  common  jail,  there  to  remain  until  he  or 
they  pay  and  satisfy  the  several  sum  or  sums  whereat  they  are 
respectively  assessed." 

Let  us  see  how  this  works.  It  is  town-meeting  day.  A 
citizen  by  the  name  of  Glazier,  not  long  resident,  but  long 
enough  to  pay  his  minister-rate,  is  presented  with  it  by  Samuel 
Stebbins,  constable, — a  poll-tax, — amounting  to  eighty  cents. 
He  squarely  and  profanely  refuses.  The  constable  insists. 
"What  if  I  don't  pay?"  The  constable  replies  by  putting  his 
hand  upon  Glazier's  shoulder.  "  If  you  really  won't  pay,  I  arrest 
you;  and  you  go  with  me  to  Springfield  jail."  In  mild  astonish- 
ment the  prisoner  would  like  to  see  him  do  it.  The  constable 
appoints  Mr.  David  Booth  keeper,  while  he  hastens  for  his 
wagon.  Glazier  proposes  that  they  save  the  constable  the  trou- 
ble of  returning,  as  he  lives  a  half-mile  distant  on  the  way  to 
Springfield.  They  find  the  constable  engaged  in  catching  his 
horse.  "  Let  us  go  and  help  him,"  proposes  the  prisoner.  As 
they  go  the  prisoner  breaks  for  the  woods.  Mr.  Booth,  however, 
has  the  longest  stride,  and  as  the  prisoner  vaults  over  a  fence, 
his.  collar  is  firmly  grasped.  There  stand  the  two  men  panting 
with  the  fence  between.  "  You  may  as  well  come  along,"  re- 
marks the  stalwart  keeper.  The  wagon  being  ready,  the  pris- 
oner takes  out  his  wallet  and  proffers  the  eighty  cents.  "  But  you 
must  also  pay  my  fee  for  arresting  you,"  replies  the  constable. 
After  a  considerable  pause,  with  one  eye  to  the  woods  and  the 
other  towards  neighbor  Booth,  fifty  cents  more  is  tendered — 
"  But  you  must  also  pay  for  the  keeper."  A  profane  refusal 
bursts  forth.  On  arriving  at  Springfield  jail,  the  wallet  comes 
out  again.  "  But  you  must  also  pay  the  transportation  fee." 
The  jail  is  preferred,  with  profane  expletives.  It  becomes  evi- 


52 

dent  that  this  man  needs  gospel  preaching.  The  turnkey  is 
about  to  shut  the  iron  door  when  the  love  of  liberty  inquires, 
"  What  can  I  settle  the  business  for."  "  You  must  also  pay  the 
turnkey's  fee."  The  eighty  cents  has  grown  to  several  dollars, 
— but  he  pays  it. 

In  the  midst  of  the  Town  period  comes  in  the  temperance 
reform.  Our  nineteen  cider  mills  and  our  six  brandy,  gin,  and 
whisky  stills  go  out.  The  wood-sleddings  for  the  minister,  the 
payments  of  the  minister  rates  in  grain,  the  ministry  lands, — go 
too.  Likewise  go  the  meadow  gates,  and  the  gates  of  the 
home  commons,  and  the  town's  and  the  proprietors'  land 
grants,  and  the  browsing  cattle, — no  .more  to  run  at  large, 
— and  the  swine,  and  the  geese, — three  cents  fine  for  each  goose. 
And  the  fire  wards  come  in, — no  more  setting  of  fires  in  the 
woods.  And  the  Sunday-school,  at  first  a  questionable  innova- 
tion,— and  the  Baptist  church  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town, 
with  its  able  and  fervent  pioneer  ministers,  Elder  George  Atwell 
and  Elder  Alvin  Bennett,  established  as  a  branch  of  the  Enfield 
Baptist  church  in  1807,  as  an  independent  church  in  1818. 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Storrs  in  the  old  church  is  Baxter 
Dickinson,  after  six  years  called  to  a  pastorate  in  Newark,  New 
Jersey,  and  thence  to  the  chair  of  pulpit  rhetoric  in  Lane  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, — judicious,  solid,  able,  thorough  ; 
a  strong  and  impressive  preacher,  a  diligent  and  successful  pastor ; 
beloved  at  home,  greatly  esteemed  abroad.  His  impress  here 
was  firm  and  strong,  and  he  made  his  special  mark  in  his  in- 
auguration and  victorious  leadership  of  the  temperance  reform. 
After  him  came  Jonathan  B.  Condit — youthful,  singularly  win- 
ning, ornate,  magnetic — for  personal  attractions  most  admired  of 
all  the  occupants  of  our  pastorate,  before  or  since ;  and  by  and 
by  called  to  the  rhetorical  chair  in  Amherst  College,  thence  to  a 
pastorate  in  Portland,  Maine,  and  finally  to  a  professorship  in 
Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  New  York. 


53 

In  1829  the  old  church  colonizes.  The  Second  Congrega- 
tional church  begins  its  prosperous  and  useful  career.  It  is 
blessed  in  those  earlier  years,  with  the  faithful  ministries  of 
Calvin  Foote  and  Martyn  Tupper,  with  marked  revivals,  and 
numerous  accessions,  and  since  then,  with  a  succession  of  faith- 
ful pastors  and  a  steady  and  healthy  growth.  The  whole  eastern 
district  of  the  town  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  sparsely 
settled  and  almost  an  unbroken  forest,  has  been  constantly 
increasing  in  enterprise  and  thrift,  rich  especially  in  its  famous 
quarries  of  the  Longmeadow  sandstone,  a  source  of  future  in- 
dustry and  wealth  that  seems  to  be  exhaustless. 

The  last  fifty  years  of  the  Town  period  with  its  events  of 
interest  and  progress,  including  the  establishment  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  in  this  part  of  the  town  and  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  in  the  eastern  district,  and  the  stirring  scenes 
of  the  civil  war,  must  be  passed  over  by  the  present  limitations 
of  this  address,  as  belonging  to  the  more  familiar  recollections 
of  our  own  times ;  times  whose  harvests  are  yet  unripe,  whose 
actors  like  ourselves  are  yet  upon  the  stage,  not  for  historical 
treatment,  but  as  living  epistles  known  and  read  of  all. 

A  hundred  years  ago!  Were  the  former  times  better  than 
these?  Better  for  us,  but  not  for  them.  The  glory  of  the  chil- 
dren are  the  fathers,  but  it  is  the  glory  of  the  children.  The 
goodly  heritage  is  ours.  The  stream  is  better  than  the  fountain, 
the  harvest  better  than  the  seed-corn. 

Behold  the  contrasts — then,  the  blowing  sand ;  now,  this 
park-like  green.  Then,  the  arid,  well-nigh  treeless  plain  ;  now, 
these  shaded  walks,  and  spreading  elms.  Then,  the  tortuous, 
steep  and  miry  roads  ;  now  these  viaducts  and  smooth  highways. 
Then,  the  unpainted,  lean-to  houses,  the  weather-beaten  horse- 
sheds,  the  unsightly  row  of  shops  in  the  middle  of  the  village 
green ;  now,  these  cultured  lawns  and  ornamental  mansions. 


54 

Then,  the  rude,  springless,  heavy  wagons  and  the  rope  traces  ; 
now,  the,  trim  and  handsome  turnouts. 

As  to  the  qualities  of  character  we  should  be  more  modest  in 
our  comparisons.  Let  the  next  centennial  praise  us  and  not 
our  own  mouth. 

Since  the  civil  war  it  has  been  with  us  as  with  many  rural 
towns,  a  time  of  much  depression.  But  not  like  that  which 
attended  the  French  and  Indian  war,  or  that  which  succeeded 
the  Revolution,  or  the  hard  times  belonging  to  the  war  of  1812. 
Our  young  men  it  is  true  have  left  us ;  the  cities  have  won 
them ;  our  manufactures  too  have  fled  to  the  more  convenient 
centers.  We  have  been  accounted  slow  and  dull.  But  in  the 
face  of  all  these  depressing  circumstances,  not  our  fault,  I  can 
say  to  my  fellow-townsmen  :  You  have  made  as  brave  a  fight  as 
ever  the  fathers  did.  The  old  vitality  yet  survives.  This 
anniversary  asserts  it.  Those  "  meadows  fresh  and  fair "  await 
a  better  agriculture.  Their  thirty-fold  shall  be  a  hundred  fold. 
These  sweet  homes,  the  church,  the  school,  cherished  still,  we 
shall  transmit  them  to  our  children  and  they  will  hand  them 
down  to  theirs.  We  shall  not  abate  our  courage  or  our  hope. 
We  claim  our  full  share  in  the  honorable  prestige  of  this  valley, 
fairest  portion  of  New  England, — New  England,  the  genius  and 
inspiration  of  the  republic, — the  republic  that  leads  the  course 
of  empire  till  the  rising  shall  catch  the  setting  sun,  and  Occident 
shall  with  Orient  clasp  hands  in  blessing  those  brave  hearts  that 
came,  westward  ho !  across  the  sea,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago. 

De  Tocqueville  is  right.  As  the  oak  is  in  the  acorn,  the 
republic  is  unfolded  in  such  histories  as  ours.  We  are  members 
one  of  another.  The  civilization  that  lines  our  silver  stream 
from  its  rising  to  the  Sound,  take  it  in  the  collective  sum  of  all 
its  thriving  cities,  enterprising  towns,  its  smiling  villages  and  its 


55 

lovely  homes  ;  its  churches,  libraries,  factories,  colleges,  asylums  ; 
its  cultured  men  and  women  ;  where  on  this  round  earth  is  it,  for 
a  like  extent,  surpassed?  I  have  but  this  last  word  to  say  :  This 
old  town  is  a  part  of  it  by  inseparable  and  immortal  ties  of 
sacred  memory  and  of  benignant  hope. 

And,  when  we  shall  have  joined  the  majority  of  the  immortal 
dead, — that  silent  congregation  in  yonder  church-yard, — and  when 
our  children's  children  shall  gather  here  a  hundred  years  to 
come  ;  from  the  upper  air,  'mid  the  great  and  increasing  throng 
of  witnesses,  may  we  behold  their  grander  prosperity  and  their 
brighter  joy  ! 

For  documents  and  authorities  referred  to  in  the  preceding  Address,  as  well  as 
for  that  expansion  of  some  of  its  sections  which  was  inconsistent  with  the  pictorial 
form,  by  preference  adopted  for  oral  delivery,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Appen- 
dix, as  being  in  fact  if  not  in  form  an  integral  part  of  the  Address  itself.  It  has 
been  preferred,  however,  not  to  encumber  the  printed  page  with  numerous  and 
minute  references  to  an  Appendix  whose  entire  perusal  will,  it  is  hoped,  prove 
interesting. 


THE  COLLATION. 


It  being  now  somewhat  past  one  o'clock,  the  President,  at  the 
unanimous  request  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  announced 
a  slight  change  in  the  day's  programme  by  which  Mr.  Boies' 
Poem  should  follow,  instead  of  preceding  the  Collation. 

A  few  moments  were  allowed  after  this  announcement  for  the 
vacating  of  the  aisles  by  those  who  had  been  standing  in  them, 
when— -presto! — there  suddenly  appeared  in  every  part  of  the 
tent. a  hundred  waiters,  selected  from  the  young  people  of  the 
town  and  formed  in  companies  of  ten,  each  officered  by  its  lady 
captain  and  gentleman  lieutenant  and  distinguished  by  its  own 
badge, — a  letter  of  immortelles, — corresponding  to  similar  large 
letters  upon  the  tent  side,  marking  the  settees  into  ten  sections 


with  separating  aisles.  Each  lady  captain  presided  over  a  large 
table  in  the  supply  tent  containing  her  proportion  of  the  Colla- 
tion viands,  and  thence  supplied,  in  rapid  succession  to  her  own 
company  of  waiters,  each  item  in  its  pre-arranged  order ;  the 
waiters  following  each  other  in  this  exact  order  in  their  service 
in  the  audience  tent.  Each  gentleman  lieutenant  kept  open 
passage  for  the  waiters  of  his  section  in  its  aisle,  and  signaled 
to  them  the  wants  of  those  occupying  the  settees.  The  viands 
were  substantial  and  abundant ;  the  coffee,  tea,  and  cake,  being 
specially  prepared  by  the  ladies  of  the  town  to  ensure  their 
quality.  All  the  culinary  details  were  conveniently  arranged 
and  perfectly  screened  under  the  adjacent  tent,  from  which  there 
were  ample  and  convenient  passage  ways  into  the  larger  one. 

It  was  the  surprising  result  of  this  happily  conceived  and 
systematized  arrangement,  thoroughly  administered  in  all  its 
details,  that  the  great  congregation  of  probably  twenty-five 
hundred  people  were  all  dined  to  their  apparent  entire  content, 
and  without  the  least  confusion  or  interruption  of  their  social 
intercourse,  in  the  almost  incredibly  short  space  of  forty  minutes. 

A  well-known  proprietor  of  one  of  our  largest  metropolitan 
hotels,  among  the  guests  of  the  occasion,  observing  with  amaze- 
ment the  order,  celerity,  and  success  of  the  collation  arrange- 
ments, said  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  preparation, 
to  whose  organizing  and  executive  faculty  a  large  part  of  the 
success  was  due,  "The  man  who  organized  the  details  of  that 
Collation  could  feed  an  army  of  ten  thousand,  and  not  a  soldier 
lose  his  rations."  While  the  chairman  himself,  in  his  own  re- 
port, modestly  observes  that  the  success  of  the  Collation  may 
not  be  due  so  much  to  the  organization,  as  to  the  perfect  har- 
mony and  intelligent  co-operation  of  every  worker.  Each 
probably  was  right. 

The  close  of  the  Collation  was  signaled,  as  its  opening  had 
been,  by  the  stirring  strains  of  the  band  ;  and  after  an  interval  of 
a  few  moments  for  changes  of  position,  and  the  seeking  put  of 
mutual  friends,  promptly  at  the  expiration  of  the  allotted  hour 
the  assembly  was  again  called  to  order  by  the  President,  intro- 
ducing the  Poet  of  the  day,  William  E.  Boies  of  Longmeadow. 


57 


THE  CENTENNIAL  POEM. 

BY    WILLIAM    E.    BOIES. 


The  kindly  mother  who  doth  greet 
Her  children  here  with  grateful  tears, 

That  tell  her  love  surer  than  speech, 
Had  never  cared  to  count  her  years, 

Until  the  sum  of  them  should  be 

The  cycle  of  a  century. 

'Tis  said  the  aloe  in  our  clime 

A  hundred  years  will  waiting  stand, 

And  then  flower-crowned  look  fresh  and  fair 
As  any  rose-tree  in  the  land ; 

Though  building  for  itself  a  tomb 

From  its  own  pyramid  of  bloom  ! 

Our  century-plant  is  blossoming, 

Not  like  its  prototype  to  die, 
But  as  the  fabled  almond-tree 

Cherished  with  loving  loyalty, 
A  larger  growth  to  gather  thence, 
And  yield  a  richer  recompense. 


From  their  sojourn  up  the  river 
Came  our  fathers  to  the  lea, 

Lured  by  its  rare  virgin  beauty, 
And  serene  tranquility. 

Then  those  meads  by  honest  purchase 
Passed  from  red  man  to  the  white, 

While  their  rankly  growing  grasses 
Wove  an  emerald  carpet  bright, 


Flecked  with  buttercups  as  sunshine, 
And  with  daisies  like  the  snow, 

Bordered  by  a  belt  of  silver 
Golden  in  the  sunset's  glow. 

Earth  and  sky  turned  not  yet  lurid 

At  the  woes  of  savage  strife, 
But  were  with  the  mellow  radiance 

Of  the  Indian  summer  rife. 

With  the  crushing  of  the  Pequots 
Came  to  war-whoops  a  long  truce, 

Till  by  jealous  crafty  Philip 

P'riends  were  changed  to  demons  loose  ; 

And  was  waged  that  war  of  races 

To  the  bitter,  bloody  end, 
Which  should  out  from  all  our  valley 

Remnants  of  a  doomed  race  send. 

Let  us  linger  with  the  Indian, 

Trusted  as  the  white  man's  friend, 

Who,  in  his  untutored  fashion, 
Aid  and  guidance  sure  did  lend. 

In  wood-craft  he  taught  the  stranger, 

Ere  his  craft  was  as  a  foe, 
How  to  hunt  in  leafy  coverts, 
.  And  to  track  game  on  the  snow — 

Shewed  him  herbs  and  leaves  of  healing, 
Others  to  be  shunned  as  bane  ; 

And  his  rude  signs  for  foretelling 
Days  of  sunshine  or  of  rain. 

It  may  be  that  to  his  camp-fire 
Was  the  stranger  welcomed  oft, 

Who,  too,  gave  the  red  man  greeting 
Where  his  home-fire  blazed  aloft. 


59 

A  memento  of  that  era 

Lends  its  luster  to  the  days 

When  we  harvest  for  the  garner, 
Peacefully,  our  golden  maize — 

Whose  trim  stocks,  so  like  to  wigwams, 
'Mind  us  of  the  tented  field 

Where  our  meads'  first  dusky  owners 
In  their  fealty  stood  revealed. 

At  the  brink  of  yonder  waters, 
Washed  and  wasted  by  their  flow, 

Is  a  burial  plot  primeval, 

Where  the  Indian  sleepeth  low. 

And  as  sunbeams  leave  a  blessing, 

Fading  slowly  in  the  west, 
Grudge  we  not  our  benediction 

To  the  red  man's  place  of  rest. 


Fair,  yet  fickle,  valley-queen, 
On  thy  crystal  throne  serene, 
Thou  did'st  lure  men  o'er  the  sea, 
Now  of  sainted  memory, 
To  salute  thee  in  thy  pride 
And  sit  spell-bound  near  thy  side. 

Dazzling  was  thy  jewelry 
More  than  gems  of  royalty, 
And  the  songs  thy  minstrels  sung, 
Soaring,  or  green  nooks  among, 
Sounded  sweeter  to  our  sires 
Than  those  by  cathedral  choirs. 

'Neath  thy  smile,  when  mist  or  snow 
Veiled  not  its  enchanting  glow, 
Visions  of  a  hamlet  rose 
Lovely  as  the  Avon  knows ; 
Bearing  none  of  olden  names, 
Yet  with  kin  by  Clyde  and  Thames. 


6o 

Lo  !  a  strange  commotion, 
Hurried  locomotion, 

Strong  men  strangely  pale  ; 
At  the  dire  transition 
From  sweet  fields  Elysian, 

To  a  submerged  vale  ! 

Soon  the  oars  are  gleaming 
'Mid  a  deluge  streaming 

O'er  the  fated  lea — 
Plied  with  lusty  rowing, 
And  the  river  flowing 

Broad  as  inland  sea  ! 

Blithe  is  still  our  mother, 
After  all  this  pother 

Sings  in  hopeful  strain — 
Baptized  by  immersion, 
Only  through  coercion, 

And  so  washed  from  stain. 

Safe  upon  the  upland, 
Despite  the  drifting  sand, 

She  will  build  anew  ; 
Floods  by  day  defying, 
And  while  winds  are  sighing 

The  hushed  night  hours  through. 

Driven  from  the  meadow, 
Close  as  her  own  shadow, 

Clings  her  name  alway — 
Tinted  with  the  color, 
Fragrant  with  the  odor, 

Of  the  meads  in  May  ; 
And  thro'  centuries  vanished, 
Tainted  not,  nor  tarnished, 

LONGMEADOW  'tis  to-day ! 


6i 


The  track  of  four-score  years  we  saunter  down, 
Through  precinct,  parish,  to  the  corporate  town. 
What  was  dense  forest,  or  the  open  ground 
Where  a  few  kine  their  scanty  forage  found, 
Yet  'neath  broadshade  at  noontide  to  recline, 
And  access  free  where  brooks  thro'  dingles  twine, 
Becomes  a  village  common,  and  wide  street, 
Comely,  in  time,  as  Goldsmith's  "  Auburn  Sweet." 

Beyond  a  belt  of  woodland,  where  the  bear 
And  ravening  wolf  long  kept  their  hidden  lair, 
A  rocky  ridge,  that  was  so  tough  to  till, 
The  settlers  cursed  it  as  "  Poverty  Hill," 
Becomes  the  thrifty  parish  miles  away, 
Whose  town-house  looks  as  if  it  came  to  stay ; 
Whose  rock  of  old  offence  has,  quarried,  won 
A  world-wide  fame  for  the  Longmeadow  stone  ! 

Timber  was  plenty,  and  the  early  frame 
Would  put  the  later  balloon  sort  to  shame  ; 
Wood  piles  were  ample,  and  the  fire-place  broad 
Enough  to  swallow  even  a  sled-load ! 
And,  though  a  tempest  raged  outside  the  door, 
That  generous  open  fire  would  blaze  and  roar 
Until  the  hearthstone  glowed  so  wondrous  bright — 
It  lit  the  smoke-stained  walls  with  solar  light. 

Simple,  yet  earnest,  lives  were  nurtured  there, 
In  homespun  raiment  and  on  frugal  fare. 
Mothers,  indeed,  with  jewels  were  arrayed, 
Such  as  Cornelia  in  her  sons  displayed, 
And  boasted  their  conservatories  full 
Of  olive-plants,  both  plain  and  beautiful ; 
Though  the  piano  must  needs  bide  its  time, 
And  penciled  harmonies  that  with  it  chime. 

Attic  sweet  singers  at  their  toil  were  heard 
While  spinning  wheels  the  obligato  whirred  ; 
Or  on  the  roof  the  patter  of  the  rain 
The  song  accompanied,  and  its  refrain. 


62 


And  by  the  cradle  wooing  slumber  nigh, 
Distilled  in  cadence  soft  the  lullaby, 
Whose  mystic  charm  comes  not  from  any  art, 
But  the  deep  yearning  of  a  mother's  heart. 

The  waltz  was  frequent  in  those  homes  of  yore, 
From  birches  sprouting  at  the  very  door ; 
And  everywhere  of  rods  enough  were  rife 
To  keep  a  lictor  busy  all  through  life  ! 
Yet  'mid  these  stern  surroundings  bloomed  a  feast, 
Whose  fragrance  lingered  long  when  thanks  had  ceased 
As  blooms  the  flower  that  ushers  in  our  May, 
Where  lilies  soon  would  droop  unto  decay. 

The  central  figure  was  devotion's  shrine — 
The  unpretending  house  for  use  divine  ; 
No  fountain  gushed  upon  the  village  green 
In  liquid  melody  and  silver  sheen, 
But  dearer  to  our  sires  than  fountain's  jet 
Was  the  meek  fane  where  reverent  they  met, 
While  holy  calm  was  brooding  everywhere, 
To  drink  of  water  on  which  angels  fare. 

How  true  the  pastors  to  their  life-long  trust, 
Williams  and  Storrs,  a  hundred  years — though  dust 
Their  bodies  now  may  be,  their  memories 
Still  live,  and  lift  our  thoughts  unto  the  skies. 
How  too  by  charge  preceded  after  charge  so  brief, 
Yet  gladdened  each  with  its  own  harvest  sheaf, 
The  pastor  of  to-day  with  thirty  years  and  three 
Doth  supplement  their  work,  and  century  ! 


Some  mourned,  as  if  when  the  old  church  moved 
Toward  the  grave-yard,  solemnly  slow, 

Its  last  hour  had  come,  and  funeral  too, 
And  in  dust  it  soon  would  lie  low. 

That  it  came  to  dust  was  a  smothering  fact, 

And  its  bats,  too,  came  to  grief, 
While  the  poor  church-mouse  in  his  secret  haunt 

Was  tremulous  as  a  leaf — 


63 

As  the  workmen  were  baring  the  antique  frame 

To  the  open  light  of  day, 
And  the  century  cock  on  his  airy  perch 

Wondered  what  was  to  pay ! 

Yet  the  cherished  fane,  under  guidance  sure, 

Left  the  spot  it  hallowed  so  long, 
For  a  site  that  now  lends  a  pathos  to  prayer, 

To  sermon,  and  sacred  song. 

And  I  fancy  'tis  still  the  same  old  church, 

In  its  heart  and  ribs  of  oak, 
As  when  from  the  belfry  at  noon  and  night, 

And  in  shine  and  storm  it  spoke. 

Stained  windows,  and  frescoed  walls  change  not 

The  faith  it  kept  on  the  green, 
While  steadfast  as  ever  its  finger  points  up 

To  the  temple  eternal  unseen. 

Methinks,  when  its  lengthening  shadow  doth  fall 
O'er  the  place  of  the  last,  long  sleep, 

The  mourner  discerns  a  sheltering  arm 
That  will  safely  his  treasure  there  keep. 


In  the  still  place  of  graves  memorials  tell 
Of  heroes  brave  and  true,  who  fought  and  fell, 
From  wars  colonial,  gone  from  thought  away, 
Down  to  that  latest  ne'er  forgotten  fray ; 
Though  all  too  soon  its  votive  garlands  fade, 
Which,  wet  with  tears,  on  the  green  turf  are  laid. 

There,  too,  sleep  those  to  country  true,  and  God, 
As  even  these  whose  blood  hath  stained  the  sod ; 
Who  sought  no  mention  in  the  roll  of  fame, 
Only  to  leave  unspotted  a  good  name. 
They  lived  that  other  mortal  lives  might  be 
More  sweet  and  true  for  their  fidelity — 


64 

From  lifting  others'  burdens  theirs  were  less, 
And  blessing  others  they  themselves  did  bless. 
In  stars  which  beamed  above  their  peaceful  homes, 
Brighter  than  over  pinnacles  and  domes, 
Radiant  they  read  what  their  reward  would  be 
When  mortal  put  on  immortality  ! 
And  so  they  passed  on,  pilgrims  to  the  sky, 
Contented  here  to  live,  and  here  to  die. 


I  know  not  what  the  years  will  bring 

Of  glad  news,  or  alarm, 
But  pray  that  the  new  century 

Break  not  the  olden  charm. 

Heaven  bless  the  city  of  our  love, 
Our  mother's  mother  dear, 

While  the  blue  hills  beyond  abide 
And  flows  the  river  near. 

Yet  as  her  toil  waxes  intense 
With  busy  hand  and  brain, 

And  rises  unto  fever-heat 
The  mastering  lust  for  gain, 

More  welcome  be  the  day  or  hour 

When  her  worn  toilers  hie 
To  pastures  green,  and  where  the  still 

Waters  are  gliding  by. 

Even  if  as  Jerusalem 

Yon  city  grows  to  be, 
Let  her  loved  suburb  keep  the  charm 

Of  quiet  Bethany  ! 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  poem  the  following  patriotic  hymn, 
also  written  by  Mr.  Boies,  was  sung  by  the  assembly,  to  the 
tune  of  Ametica,  with  band  accompaniment,  concluding  the 
first  section  of  the  day's  programme. 


MR.  BOIES'  HYMN. 


Our  Country,  unto  thee 
Still  we  would  loyal  be, 

As  were  our  sires  ; 
Who  watched  thine  infancy, 
Fought  for  thy  liberty, 
Kindled  on  hill  and  lea 

Thine  altar-fires. 

For  Thee,  O  grand  old  State, 
Never  shall  love  abate, 

Whate'er  betide. 

Though  friends  thy  servants  blame. 
And  foes  asperse  thy  name, 
Firm  as  thy  Rock  of  fame 

Thou  shalt  abide  ! 

Sweet  hamlet  of  our  love, 
As  dew  shed  from  above 

Peace  be  to  thee  ! 
With  plenty  be  thou  blest, 
With  concord,  East  and  West, 
And  days  of  holy  rest 

In  worship  free. 

God  bless  us  gathered  here, 
While  draws  our  parting  near, 

To  meet  no  more — 
Until  through  loss  and  gain, 
And  washed  from  mortal  stain, 
Triumphant  we  attain 

The  shining  shore  ! 
10 


66 


THE  AFTER-DINNER  SPEECHES. 

In    opening  the   symposium   of    after-dinner   speeches   from 
invited  sons,  daughters,  and  guests,  the  President  spoke  briefly, 
as  follows : 
Children  and  Friends  of  Our  Good  Mother  Longmeadow  : 

You  are  invited  to  a  'feast  of  reason  and  a  flow  of  soul,'  which  will 
doubtless  make  all  that  has  preceded  it  seem  tame  to  you,  in  the  com- 
parison. We  have  a  list  of  speakers  whose  very  recital  must  awaken 
your  most  eager  anticipation.  Let  every  settee  claim  its  occupants, 
that  all  maybe  unhindered  in  hearing  and  seeing.  The  good  Mother 
will  deem  it  no  disrespect  to  herself  for  any  son  or  daughter  to  sit 
with  covered  head,  even  in  her  venerable  presence,  if  prudence  so 
suggests. 

I  will  detain  the  speakers  from  you  longer  by  only  a  single  '  little 
story.'  It  is  related  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Shaw  of  Rochester  that, 
being  about  to  take  leave  of  his  Presbytery  in  his  advanced  years,  he 
said  to  them  in  words  of  chastened,  yet  complacent  humility  :  "  Breth- 
ren: During  my  long  connection  with  you  I  may  have  done  some 
foolish  things,  and  have  doubtless  clone  many  wrong  things ;  but  you 
will  bear  me  witness  that  I  have  never  done  a  long  thing  !  " 

The  bearing  of  this  story  does  not  lie,  I  may  add,  in  the  applica- 
cation  ;  for  you  will  readily  see  it  can  have  no  possible  application  to 
our  circumstances.  The  afternoon  may,  indeed,  prove  short ;  but  the 
speeches  of  our  guests  cannot,  by  any  possibility,  seem  to  us  long. 

Speaking  now,  however,  only  as  the  humble  representative  of  our 
gracious  Mother,  I  am  instructed  by  her  to  say  that  she  remembers 
reading  often  in  her  early  childhood  the  then  recently  revised  version 
of  the  sacred  writings,  done  by  command  of  her  Most  Gracious  Sov- 
ereign King  James  I,  of  learned  memory,  and  that  in  it,  of  a  certain 
Aaron  of  old  it  was  written,  that  '  he  could  speak  well ; '  and,  there- 
fore, commandment  was  given  concerning  him,  that  '  he  should  be  to 
his  brother  Moses  instead  of  a  mouth.'  Much  more,  surely,  may  a 
mother  expect  that  any  Aaron  among  her  own  sons  who  can  speak 
well  should  be  to  her  instead  of  a  mouth,  on  such  an  occasion  as  this. 

Will  the  Rev.  Aaron  Colton,  of  Easthampton,  take  the  Mother's 
hint? 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  AARON  COLTON. 

Mr.  President  and  Good  Friends  : 

In  our  present  quest  we  do  not  propose  to  go  back  to  Adam, 
nor  to  Noah.  We  stop  this  side  of  the  flood  and  of  the  Red 
Sea.  We  begin  at  Moses — our  Moses — my  Moses,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent,— otherwise  named  Quartermaster  George  Colton.  Let 
alone  Egypt.  Let  alone  England,  except  just  to  say  that  the 
said  George  aforesaid  came  over  from  Sussex,  a  southeast  county 
in  the  fatherland,  about  the  middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. 
•  No  matter  for  anything  beyond.  Enough,  and  good  enough 
this  side.  No  great  concern  whether  the  first  man  ever  named 
Colton  was  Norman,  Swede,  Celt,  or  Turk.  Don't  propose  to 
go  into  fits  over  the  question  whether  the  Coltons  across  the 
brine  were  of  princely  blood  or  plebeian.  That  is  no  great 
shakes  any  way.  The  real  point  is,  What  are  we,  and  what  do 
we  ?  All  else  is  fustian  and  prunella.  We  make  personal  con- 
fession, that  for  groping  one's  way  by  light  of  a  tallow  candle 
through  endless  "  genealogies,"  we  have,  in  this  short  life,  no 
time,  tact,  nor  taste.  Had  indeed  a  little  rather  not  have  come 
up  (or  down)  from  ape,  tadpole,  or  clam,  as  the  evolutionists 
would  have  it. 

Quartermaster  George  Colton — on  him  we.  plant  ourselves, 
and  shake  fists  at  all  questioners  and  comers.  We  have  in  him 
an  honorable  and  auspicious  beginning.  He  is  found  a  Magis- 
trate in  Springfield  at  almost  its  earliest,  and  before  Longmeadow 
is  even  a  precinct,  or  is  more  than  a  pasture  for  flocks.  Came 
among  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  to  what  is  now  this  goodly  place 
and  name.  Was  a  wise  master  builder,  and  laid  here  good 
foundations,  whereof  we  this  day  are  witnesses.  Had  nine  chil- 
dren, and  that  was  auspicious  prophecy.  And  famous  children 
they  were — altogether  redoubtable.  Isaac,  Ephraim,  Mary, 
Thomas,  Sarah,  Deborah,  Hephzibah,  John,  and  Benjamin. 
There  !  Scriptural,  Biblical,  every  one— patriarch  and  evangelist 
face  to  face ;  both  Testaments  drawn  from — not  to  say ,, ex- 
hausted ;  not  a  heathen  name  among  them.  If  from  all  the 


68 

hoary  registers  of  time,  any  man  can  cite  the  equal  family  rec- 
ord, let  him  stand  up  and  be  counted. 

And  if  Quartermaster  George  was  great,  a  still  greater  than 
he,  perhaps,  was  his  son  Thomas,  our  Joshua.  Captain  Thomas 
Colton — like  John  Gilpin — 

"  A  citizen 

Of  credit  and  renown ; 
A  train-band  Captain  eke  was  he." 

He  was  the  hornet  against  the  people  who  had  dwelt  in  the 
land.  For  it  came  to  pass  when  they  set  themselves  to  over- 
come him,  he  joined  battle  and  fought  against  them  ;  yea,  he 
drave  out  from  before  him  the  Jebusites,  the  Hivites,  and  the 
Hittites,  (or  subdued  them  under  him,)  and  gave  their  lands  for 
a  possession  unto  your  fathers,  and  unto  you,  as  it  is  this  day. 
It  was  said  of  him  that  he  could  scent  an  Indian  from  as  far  as 
he  could  shoot  one — and  that  was  at  long  range.  Turning  to 
the  old  records  I  find  a  minute  in  these  words  :  "  Capt.  Thomas 
Colton  died  September  30,  1728.  On  the  6th  of  the  following 
October  Dr.  Williams  preached  a  sermon  in  which  he  gave 
Capt.  Colton  a  very  extraordinary  character,  especially  in  the 
Indian  wars,  and  as  a  man  of  eminent  piety."  Reminds  one  of 
the  centurian,  and  of  Havelock ;  a  soldier,  yet  fearing  God  with 
all  his  house.  His  monument  in  the  burial  ground  near  by,  a 
stone  slab,  large,  strong,  durable,  of  such  fine  grain  and  texture 
as  to  have  withstood,  without  fleck  or  flaw,  the  storms  and  sun- 
shines of  a  century  and  a  half,  testifies  to  this  same  high  esti- 
mate and  appreciation.  And  then  Captain  George  Colton,  son 
of  Thomas,  worthy  son  of  worthy  sire.  Thus  we  have  it — these 
military  spangles  and  splendors — Captain,  Lieutenant,  Ensign, 
Sergeant,  etc.  And  then  as  to  actual  service — the  tug  of  war. 
My  grandfather  Aaron,  with  several  others  of  the  name,  bore  a 
part  in  the  struggle  for  our  independence.  Sergeant  Ebenezer 
Colton,  with  his  company  of  minute  men,  marched  from  here  as 
far  as  to  Brookfield  for  the  rescue  of  Lexington,  but  was  coun- 
termanded with  the  intelligence  that  the  peril  was  past. 

But  the  Colton  name  fills  a  much  larger  space  in  the  civil  list 
and  life  of  this  grand  old  town.  For  a  hundred  years  one-half, 
less  or  more,  of  the  moderators  of  the  meetings  of  precinct  and 


69 

town  were  Coltons.  How  readest  thou  ?  "  At  a  meeting  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  precinct  of  Long  Meadow,  March  15,  1756, 
Capt.  Isaac  Colton  was  appointed  Moderator  ;  Sergt.  George 
Colton,  Ensign  ;  Simon  Colton  and  David  Burt  were  chosen 
Committee,  and  Samuel  Colton,  Assessor" — Coltons  four  to 
one.  One  more  instance  out  of  many  in  the  record.  At  the 
first  meeting  of  Longmeadow  as  a  town,  Festus  Colton  was 
chosen  Surveyor  of  Highways,  and  Luther  Colton,  Fence 
Viewer.  So  were  the  powers  and  prerogatives,  the  honors  and 
emoluments  of  high  official  station  heaped  upon  the  Coltons  as 
the  most  capable  and  worthy  among  the  people  ! 

If  now  any  one  shall,  in  malicious  and  mischievous  deprecia- 
tion, insinuate  that  the  Coltons  were  all  the  people,  and  had  the 
honors  of  office  as  the  college  boy  did  the  valedictory,  being 
himself  the  whole  class,  we  shall  not  stop  to  answer  that  despiser 
of  dignities,  except  by  the  silence  that  means  disdain. 

And  then,  coming  down,  or  rather  up,  to  the  queenly  matron, 
ever  venerable  and  fair — this  church.  Of  the  sixteen  persons 
joining  to  organize  this  church,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
years  ago,  six  were  Coltons — four  women  and  two  men. 

I  have  just  now  alluded  to  numbers.  If  you  carp  at  the  Col- 
ton quality,  we  can  easily  balance  the  account  by  quantity. 
Those  early  family  records — quivers  full.  We  have  looked  at 
them,  and  have  sat  astonied  one  hour.  Quartermaster  George 
is  found  to  have  had  nine  children  ;  Thomas,  fifteen  ;  Ephraim, 
of  the  second  generation,  seventeen ;  Benjamin,  of  the  third 
generation,  fifteen  ;  and  Benjamin,  of  the  fourth  generation,  ten. 
Prophets  and  prognosticators  of  omen  good  or  ill !  Census 
bureau  and  the  multiplication  table  !  But  take  comfort.  This 
is  a  great  country,  with  territorial  domain  sufficient  for  a  good 
many  Coltons  and  some  few  others — a  remnant,  at  least.  Glad 
to  have  it  so  ;  for  we  seem  to  hear  voices  saying,  give  us  room, 
that  we  may  dwell. 

We'll  then,  the  just  claim  of  the  Coltons  to  precedence  and 
preeminence  before  all  the  other  Longmeadowers,  here  and  else- 
where:  i.  We  were  first  in  the  field,  and  possession  is,  nine 
points  of  the  law.  2.  We  are  fullest  in  numbers — are  the  major- 
ity— are  the  people — not  to  insist  that  wisdom  will  die  with  us. 


;o 

And  then  as  to  the  parts  the  Coltons  have  played  and  are 
playing  in  the  field  of  the  world.  True,  we  cannot  point  to  a 
Colton  as  chief  executive  of  the  nation,  nor  of  this  common- 
wealth. No  matter.  The  greed  and  scramble  for  office,  as  now 
seen,  would  only  soil  our  ermine.  But  we  stand  well  on  the  roll. 
One  or  two  governors  or  alcades,  one  or  two  presidents  of  col- 
leges, several  college  professors,  educators  not  a  few,  physicians 
many,  clergymen  a  goodly  number,  judges  rare,  lawyers  a  suffi- 
cient and  satisfying  scarcity. 

But  after  all,  our  grand  distinction  and  boast  is  of  our  dea- 
cons. DEACON  COLTON.  Here,  on  this  eminence,  we  plant  our- 
selves, and  boldly  challenge  all  competition  and  comparison. 
We  are  owners  of  the  deaconship  here  and  elsewhere 

"  From  the  center  all  round  to  the  sea." 

We  are  born  deacons,  as  princes  are  dukes — to  the  manor 
born.  Deacon  is  our  escutcheon  heraldic,  our  ensign  armorial. 
True,  indeed,  in  this  democratic,  leveling  age  and  country,  where 
men  have  such  petty  jealousies  and  prejudices  against  office 
bearing  and  authority,  it  may  perhaps  be  as  well,  for  the  sake  of 
peace  and  good  will,  to  allow  the  people  the  privilege  of  a  voice 
and  vote  in  putting  Coltons  into  this  as  into  other  offices.  But 
a  Colton  is  a  deacon  anyway,  and  every  time,  vote  or  no  vote. 
He  is  deacon  by  very  virtue  of  his  being  a  Colton.  To  say  of  a 
Colton  that  he  is  a  deacon  is  only  to  pronounce  him  a  little  more 
a  Colton — an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews.  In  fact,  we  don't  need 
the  title  ; — we  are  deacons  without  it,  all  the  Same.  To  think  of 
distinguishing  one  Colton  from  another  Colton  by  saying  that 
one  of  them  is  deacon,  would  be  about  as  lucid  an  identification 
as  to  say  of  one  John  Smith  that  he  is  brother  of  James.  Not 
to  count  from  other  branches  of  our  genealogical  tree,  but  only 
from  my  own  especial  bough  or  twig,  I  once  found  here  thirteen 
deacons  living  contemporaneously,  and  a  blessing  to  their  time. 
My  grandfather  Aaron  was  deacon  ;  two  or  three  uncles  of  mine 
were  deacons  ;  a  half  score  of  cousins  were  deacons  ;  my  father 
was  deacon  ;  three  brothers  of  mine  were  deacons  ;  and  a  son 
of  mine  is  deacon.  Presumably  this  branch  is  no  exceptional 
one,  but  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  entire  ancestral  tree. 


I  have  not  claimed,  may  it  please  you,  that  all  the  good  dea- 
cons in  the  world  are  Coltons.  I  am  too  modest  for  that.  I 
magnanimously  and  cheerfully  concede  that  there  are  good  peo- 
ple, some  few  at  least,  outside  of  the  Colton  fold.  I  benevo- 
lently wish  there  were  more  of  them.  And  here,  while  I  am  in 
this  charitable  and  hopeful  mood,  and  before  I  lose  it,  I  may  just 
add  and  admit,  that,  since  an  humble  self -estimate  is  a  grace 
becoming  in  all,  even  in  the  best,  it  is  conceivable  that  we  Col- 
tons,  all  of  us,  might  not  do  amiss  to  wish  ourselves  a  little  bet- 
ter than  we  are.  There  is  always  room  at  the  top. 

And  then  as  to  issues  and  results  of  intermarriages  and  inter- 
fusions, cross-currents  and  comminglings  of  blood  and  quality — 
ours  with  the  other  tribes,  the  Elys,  Cooleys,  Blisses,  Morses, 
Morrisses,  Keeps,  Chapins,  Burts,  Williamses,  Bridgmans,  Kings- 
leys,  Goldthwaites,  Storrses,  Wrights,  Lawtons,  Brockways,  and 
I  know  not  how  many  more  ;  whether  in  all  this  the  Coltons 
have  gained  most,  or  given  most  of  whatsoever  things  are  lovely 
and  of  good  report,  may  properly  be  left  a  question  for  a  debat- 
ing society.  It  is  presumable,  however,  that  our  debtors  they 
are. 

From  this  account  it  is  very  plain,  first,  that  the  Coltons  are  a 
modest  race,  thinking  others  better  than  themselves ;  and  sec- 
ond, that  there  are  among  them  no  humorists.  How  could 
there  be  ?  Being  deacons  all  of  us,  we  are  too  sedate  and 
Solemn  to  relax  into  mirthfulness  and  levity.  '  Sober  as  a 
deacon ! ' 

But  I  must  draw  to  a  close.  Let  me  try,  as  I  do  so,  to  sketch 
for  you,  with  a  free  but  faithful  hand 

AN    AVERAGE    COLTON. 

A  plain  man  of  medium  stature  ;  rather  spare  in  flesh  ;  hair 
brown  and  scant  as  age  advances ;  small  eyes  ;  prominent  nose 
and  chin,  denoting  push  and  persistence  ;  complexion  red,  white, 
and  blue  ;  circulation  and  temperament  a  trifle  slow ;  not  the 
quickest  in  catching  an  idea,  but  good  at  keeping  it ;  modest,  as 
we  have  already  said  and  sung,  yet  somewhat  self-opinionated 
and  set — not  to  say  stubborn  ;  second  or  third  cousins,  inaybe, 
to  the  Mr.  Will-be- Wills  ;  of  cheerful  turn,  and  not  addicted  to 
long  face  and  low  murmurs ;  laughs  moderately,  but  laughs ; 


72 

prefers  to  live  in  the  south  side  of  the  house  ;  is  sociable  and 
neighborly ;  likes  to  do  obliging  things,  and  does  them  ;  thinks 
comfortably  well  of  himself,  and  likes  to  have  others  think  the 
same  of  him  ;  is  affectionate  in  disposition,  loves  his  kindred  and 
friends,  and  is  given  to  hospitality ;  loves  a  good  story,  and  is  apt 
to  be  a  little  prolix  and  tiresome  in  telling  it ;  is  pretty  sure  to 
be  found  a  singer,  and  no  marvel  if  a  chorister  ;  is  neither  a  sun 
to  blind  your  eyes,  nor  a  comet  to  be  gazed  at  wonderingly ; 
wouldn't  excel  in  metaphorical  pyrotechnics  and  gymnastics  ;  is 
not  given  to  minding  high  things,  but  is  reasonably  content  to 
pursue  a  quiet  and  even  tenor ;  is  patient  of  toil,  working  with 
his  own  hands  that  which  is  good  ;  is  fair-minded  and  fair-handed 
in  business  dealings  ;  has  half  an  eye  open  for  the  main  chance, 
but  doesn't  clutch  frantically  for  the  everlasting  more  ;  is  neither 
a  millionaire  nor  a  pauper  ;  is  not  crowned  king  nor  hanged  a 
culprit ;  is  seldom  found  in  a  palace,  and  more  rarely  in  a  prison  ; 
is  a  democratic  republican  in  politics  ;  is  found  among  a  gentler 
commonalty,  the  middling  interest,  the  middle  extreme  in 
society, — the  upper  middle  if  you  please;  is  not  a  saint  by  natural 
birth  and  blood  (no  man  is),  but  is  blessed  with  such  make  and 
molding,  such  natural  disposition,  aptitudes,  tendencies,  as  fits 
one  (if  there  be  such  fitting  in  any)  to  receive  God's  free  grace 
and  be  molded  by  it  to  diviner  patterns,  even  the  spiritual  and 
heavenly. 

On  the  whole,  a  fair  sort  of  a  man,  this  average  Colton,  found 
respectable,  faithful,  useful,  serving  God  and  doiag  good  to  men, 
and  as  likely  as  most  to  be  saved  finally  by  grace  divine  and 
grace  alone. 

We  should  not  boast  and  we  need  not  blush,  manward,  over 
what  the  Colton  race  and  name  have  been  and  done  here  in  this 
dear  old  home,  our  Jerusalem,  Longmeadow,  name  ever  dear, 
and  mother  of  us  all ;  and  done  also  in  the 

"  Land  of  our  fathers,  wheresoe'er  we  roam." 

And  may  I  add  one  word  in  the  name  of  all  the  tribes  and 
families  represented  here,  today.  To.  the  Longmeadow  resi- 
dents, people  and  their  honored  pastor,  having  here  and  now 
their  beautiful  home  and  habitation,  we  tender  on  this  memorial 


73 

anniversary  our  hearty  greetings  and  gratulations.  All  hail  and 
farewell !  our  dear  old  Longmeadow,  venerable  with  age,  crowned 
with  beauty !  Her  children  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed.  May 
other  generations  of  men  and  women,  the  good  and  gentle,  the 
true  and  brave  for  the  right,  rise  up  here  to  bless  the  ancestral 
home,  the  nation,  the  world.  Our  ancestors  here.  We  seem  to 
see  their  venerable  forms.  We  tread  reverently  by  the  graves 
where  they  lie  in  glory,  every  one  in  his  own  house.  We  sit, 
to-day,  beneath  the  roof  and  within  the  walls  where  they  wor- 
shiped the  ever  living  and  loving  God,  theirs  and  ours.  We 
walk  beneath  the  elms  that  to  them  were  a  shadow  from  the 
heat.  We  tread  on  hallowed  ground. 

"  A  charm  from  the  skies  seems  to  hallow  us  here." 
We  feel  here  an  inspiration  and  uplifting  to  good  endeavor  to  do 
well  our  part,  and  so  be  followers  of  them  who  through  faith 
and  patience  inherit  the  promises. 

"  Our  boast  is  not  that  we  deduce  our  birth 
From  loins  enthroned  and  rulers  of  the  earth; 
But  higher  far  our  proud  pretensions  rise, 
The  sons  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies." 


-;  At  the  close  of  Rev.  Mr.  Colton's  Address,  in  introducing  the 
next  speaker,  the  venerable  Mrs.  Mary  Reynolds  Schauffler,  the 
widow  of  the  distinguished  and  lamented  missionary  Rev.  Dr. 
William  G.  Schauffler,  and  the  devoted  partner  of  his  missionary 
labors  at  Constantinople,  but  since  his  death  residing  with  a  son 
in  New  York  city, — the  President  said : 

"It  is  with  rare  pride  and  pleasure  that  the  Mother  welcomes  back 
to-day,  a  beloved  daughter,  whom  she  might  almost  more  properly 
call  a  sister; — one,  certainly,  whom  all  her  younger  children  will 
gladly  recognize  as  a  mother,  revered  and  beloved.  Will  our  dear 
Mother  Schauffler  enrich  our  Centennial  feast  with  any  reminiscences 
from  an  experience  so  honorable  to  herself  and  to  her  native  town  ? 

10 


74 


MRS.   SHAUFFLER'S    REMARKS. 

My  Dear  Friends :,. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  am  permitted  to  be  here  on 
this  Centennial  day,  in  this  place  so  dear  to  me  as  the  place  of 
my  birth,  the  home  of  my  childhood,  and  the  home  of  so  many 
of  my  honored  ancestors. 

I  have  listened,  with  great  delight,  to  the  history  of  my  great- 
grandfather, Dr.  Stephen  Williams,  and  his  family.  It  reminds 
me  of  the  story  of  the  first  family,  that  of  Robert  Williams,  who 
came  from  England  to  this  country-  in  the  year  1638. 

Mrs.  Williams  was  unwilling  to  leave  her  English  home  to 
come  to  this,  then  howling  wilderness ;  so  the  voyage  was 
deferred  from  time  to  time.  At  length  Mrs.  Williams  awakened 
one  morning,  and  said  to  her  husband,  "My  dear,  I  am  now 
ready  to  go  to  America.  I  had  a  very  remarkable  dream  last 
night.  I  dreamed  that  we  went  to  America,  had  a  numerous 
posterity,  and  that  among  them  were  many  men  of  influence  in 
the  land,  and,  especially,  many  ministers  of  the  gospel." 

You  have  heard,  this  morning,  that  many  of  the  name  of 
Williams  have  been  graduates  of  our  best  colleges.  Of  the  sons 
of  my  great-grandfather,  three  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
several  of  their  sons  and  grandsons.  It  is  remarkable  how 
many  of  the  descendants  of  the  Williams  family  have  been 
clergymen. 

When  my  great-grandfather  returned  from  captivity  in  Canada, 
his  sister  Eunice  could  not  be  found  to  be  redeemed.  She  was 
a  child  of  eight  years  when  taken  captive,  and  had  been  at  once 
sold  by  the  Indians  to  some  of  the  Catholic  nuns  in  Quebec ; 
they  secreted  her  for  years,  and  at  last  married  her  to  an  Indian 
chief,  who  thought  it  an  honor  to  take  an  English  name,  and  was 
ever  after  called  Williams. 

After  years,  Dr.  Stephen  Williams  learned  where  his  sister 
was,  and  sent  to  her  to  come  and  visit  him.  She  came,  with 
her  husband  and  some  other  Indians,  to  Longmeadow,  but  they 
would  not  lodge  in  the  house.  They  built  a  wigwam  in  the 
orchard,  behind  the  parsonage,  and  slept  there. 


MBS.   MART  REYNOLDS  SCHAUFFLKR — A»ED  82. 


(OVER. 


75 

One  day  my  grandmother  and  her  sisters  got  their  Aunt 
Eunice  into  the  house,  and  dressed  her  up  in  our  fashion. 
Meantime  the  Indians  outside  were  very  uneasy,  and  when 
Aunt  Eunice  went  out  in  her  new  dress,  they  were  much  dis- 
pleased, and  she  soon  went  into  the  house,  begging  to  have  her 
blanket  again.  Nothing  could  induce  her  to  remain  in  New 
England,  although  great  efforts  were  made  to  persuade  her  hus- 
band and  herself  to  remain. 

Some  years  later,  one  of  Aunt  Eunice's  sons  came  for  a  visit, 
and  was  induced  to  bring  two  of  his  sons  for  education.  One 
of  them,  Eleazer,  became  a  missionary  to  the  Iroquois  Indians. 

I  wish  to  congratulate  Longmeadow  that  she  has  sent  out  so 
many  missionaries,  six  of  them  born  here,  and  five  of  their 
children  also  having  taken  up  the  work.  I  trust  Longmeadow 
will  send  out  many  more  of  her  sons  and  daughters  to  the 
foreign  field.  Young  men  are  greatly  needed,  as  well  as  more 
women. 

Last  year,  the  American  Board  sent  out  only  four  new  mis- 
sionaries. We  greatly  need  more  men  and  more  money.  The 
world  is  wide  open  to  receive  the  gospel,  and  shall  we  not  be 
more  than  ever  in  earnest  to  send  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ?  Are  there  not,  in  this  large  assembly, 
some  who  will  devote  themselves  to  this  blessed  work? 

May  the  blessing  of  the  God  of  our  fathers  ever  rest  upon 
dear  old  Longmeadow. 


The  spoken  word  is  indeed  here ;  but  no  words  can  report  the  sweet  and  gracious 
Presence  of  the  venerable  matron,  who,  with  great  natural  diffidence,  yet  with 
perfect  self-possession,  addressed  to  the  multitude  of  affectionate  listeners  her 
loving  reminiscences  and  earnest  missionary  appeal.  Erect  in  form  and  quietly 
dignified  in  bearing,  the  presence  around  her  of  loved  schoolmates  and  the  throng- 
ing memories  of  earlier  years  seemed,  for  the  moment,  almost  to  renew  for  her  the 
glow  of  her  girlhood's  feeling.  Public  speakers,  too,  might  well  take  a  lesson  from 
the  apparent  ease  with  which  the  distinctly  uttered  words  and  perfectly  modulated 
tones  of  this  delicate  voice  reached  every  part  of  the  spacious  tent.  The  very 
presence  of  this  dear  Mother  in  Israel  was  felt  by  all  to  be  both  an  inspiration  and 
a  benediction. 


76 

After  music  by  the  band,  the  President  said  : 

The  Mother  gladly  sees  with  her  here  to-day  a  grandson  not  only  of 
herself,  but  of  a  beloved  pastor  of  her  early  years— bearing  in  full, 
third  in  a  sacred  succession,  an  honored  name  which  he  has  himself 
yet  more  widely  interlinked  with  literature  and  with  life.  Will  the 
Rev.  Richard  Salter  Storrs,  D.  D.,  of  Brooklyn  speak  words  of  cheer 
for  the  Mother  to  whom  his  own  father's  heart,  untraveled,  ever 
fondly  turned  with  tenderest  affection  ? 

DR.  STORKS'  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  President:     Dear  Friends : 

As  I  stand  before  you  for  a  few  minutes,  preceding  others 
whom  you  are  naturally  impatient  to  hear,  I  am  reminded,  by  the 
very  kind  words  with  which  I  have  been  introduced,  of  an  inci- 
dent of  somewhat  recent  occurrence — which  had  been  recalled 
to  me,  also,  in  the  course  of  the  excellent  historical  discourse  to 
which  we  listened  with  so  much  pleasure  this  morning. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  'Bacon  of  New  Haven,  a  beloved  and 
honored  friend  of  many  of  us,  was  accustomed,  I  believe,  in  the 
later  years  of  his  life,  after  his  active  pastorate  had  ceased,  to 
introduce  to  his  congregation,  with  the  grave  and  graceful 
courtesy  which  belonged  to  him,  those  who  were  to  preach  in 
his  pulpit.  On  one  occasion  he  did  it  in  substantially  this  way : 
"  The  first  Pastor  of  this  Church  was  the  Reverend  John  Daven- 
port," on  whom  he  then  proceeded  to  pronounce  a  brief  eulogy. 
"  The  grandson  of  that  pastor  was  the  Reverend  John  Daven- 
port, of  Stamford.  The  son  of  that  pastor  was  the  Reverend 
James  Davenport  of  Southold,  Long  Island.  We  are  to-day  to 
be  addressed  by  a  lineal  descendant  of  John  Davenport,  our 
first  pastor."  A  friend  of  mine,  who  was  in  the  congregation, 
noticed  that  the  face  and  forehead  of  the  minister  so  introduced 
flamed  suddenly  into  a  blush  which  seemed  more  vivid  than  was 
necessary  on  the  occasion  ;  but  the  secret  of  it  was  perhaps 
explained  when  he  announced  his  text :  "  Visiting  the  iniquities 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the  children's  chil- 
dren, unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation." 


77 

I  don't  know,  I  am  sure,  what  iniquities  my  grandfather  can 
have  ever  committed,  in  consequence  of  which  I  have  been  put, 
on  his  account,  into  this  early  .place  among  the  speakers.  I  have 
always  understood  that  he  was  an  excellent  man.  Probably  he 
must  sometime  or  other  have  been  careless  about  the  duty  of 
making  a  after-dinner  speech  on  a  centennial  occasion.  At  any 
rate  I  feel  at  this  moment  much  as  the  lawyer  did  who  was  about 
to  be  married — of  which  story  also,  by  the  way,  I  was  reminded 
this  morning.  He  was  well  esteemed  in  his  profession,  but 
rather  remarkable  for  never  being  quite  ready  to  try  his  case, 
and  always  desirous  of  a  postponement. 

At  last  he  was  to*  be  married,  as  I  have  said,  but  when  the 
minister  asked  him  :  "  Dost  thou  take  this  woman  to  thy  wedded 
wife  ? "  the  old  habit  got  the  better  of  him,  and  he  answered 
that  he  was  not  altogether  ready  to  proceed  with  the  case,  and 
would  like  an  adjournment  for  two  weeks.  It  seemed  to  me, 
when  we  were  told  this  morning  of  the  elaborate  ceremonies  at 
the  marriage  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Williams  to  Miss  Abigail 
Davenport,  that  if  he  had  known  beforehand  what  these  cere- 
monies were  to  be,  he  might  have  been  excused  for  wishing  a 
temporary  adjournment ;  and  that  if  she- was  really  as  deferential 
to  him  as  the  letter  which  was  read  from  her  seems  to  indicate, 
she  would  not  have  objected.  I  don't  want  a  two  weeks  adjourn- 
ment for  my  remarks ;  but  really  wish  they  might  have  come  a 
little  later  in  the  afternoon. 

However,  it  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  say  a  few  words  of 
hearty  affection  and  admiration  for  this  beautiful  village,  and  for 
those  who  live  in  it,  on  this  pleasant  occasion. 

I  remember  the  village  as  it  was  more  than  fifty  years  ago, 
when  I  first  came  to  it  as  a  lad,  with  my  father  and  mother,  both 
of  whom  have  now  been  walking  for  years — one  of  them  for 
many  years — in  the  gardens  of  God.  And  I  remember  the 
impression  which  it  then  made  upon  me  ;  how  wholly  retired  it 
seemed  to  me,  and  set  by  itself. 

There  was  no  air  of  foreignness  about  it,  no  breath  of  the  sea. 
In  the  towns  along  the  eastern  shore,  with  which  I  was  acquainted 
— Boston,  Salem,  Weymouth,  Wareham,  New  Bedford,  and  the 
others — one  was  constantly  reminded  of  distant  counties.  There 


78 

were  ships  at  the  docks  from  India  and  China ;  sailors  rolling 
and  rollicking  on  the  streets,  or  in  the  taverns  ;  foreign  orna- 
ments and  furniture  in  the  houses  ;  a  general  fragrance  of  orien- 
tal spicery  in  the  air.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  appeared  a 
typical,  interior,  New  England  village,  where  all  was  home-born, 
home-bred  ;  with  no  noise  in  the  air,  no  hurry  in  the  streets ; 
"a  happy  harbor  of  God's  saints." 

So  it  seemed  to  me  as  a  boy ;  and  the  first  impression  has 
never  departed  ;  in  fact  it  has  been  deepened  and  revived  in  my 
subsequent  visits,  which  have  been  somewhat  numerous.  Very 
likely  there  has  been  more  or  less  of  tragedy  here,  in  life  and 
character ;  undoubtedly  there  must  have  been ;  animosities, 
perhaps,  there  may  have  been,  and  sharp  disputes  about  line- 
fences.  But  the  total  impression  made  by  the  village  has  always 
been  that  of  quietness,  peace,  and  a  charming  rural  beauty.  I 
remember  the  sense  of  incongruity  which  I  felt — it  had  really 
almost  an  element  of  wit  in  it — when  I  saw,  some  years  since,  a 
brisk  old  gentleman  driving  a  young  horse  along  these  streets, 
at  what  must  have  been  about  a  2.40  pace.  He  was  a  Colton,  I 
am  sure ;  therefore,  according  to  our  friend  who  has  just  spoken, 
a  born  deacon ;  and  I  think  he  was  then  already  over  eighty 
years  old.  The  whole  thing  seemed  amusingly  inappropriate,  in 
the  leisurely  stillness  of  these  shadowed  streets. 

I  am  not  sure  but  one  feels  this  quietness  all  the  more  as  he 
comes  to  Longmeadow  through  the  haste  and  bustle  of  Spring- 
field. I  know  something  of  the  wealth  of  character  and  of  cul- 
ture which  are  in  that  prosperous  and  famous  town.  I  know 
that  by  its  great  manufacturing  establishments,  and  its  enter- 
prising processes,  its  lines  have  gone  out  into  almost  all  the 
earth,  and  its  words  nearly  to  the  end  of  the  world.  But  it  is 
certainly,  in  some  parts  of  it,  a  pretty  noisy  town  !  A  man  was 
riding  with  me  in  the  cars,  some  years  since,  from  one  of  the 
southwestern  States,  who  had  been  visiting  rapidly  several  of  the 
eastern  cities,  and  we  talked  about  them.  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
been  at  Springfield  ;  at  first  he  thought  not,  but  then  recalling  it 
he  said,  "  O  yes,  '  That's  the  right  smart  town  that's  built  around 
the  ^Massasoit  Hotel.'"  I  was  reminded  of  his  remark  when, 
sometime  after,  I  had  occasion  to  pass  the  night  at  that  famous 


79 

hostelry.  Coming  to  it  without  previous  arrangement,  I  was  put 
into  a  room  on  the  railroad  side  of  the  house,  and  one  might 
almost  as  well  have  tried  to  sleep  in  the  great  bell  at  Moscow, 
with  twenty  men  beating  on  the  outside  with  steel  hammers  all 
night !  I  fully  determined  that  if  I  had  occasion  to  stop  again 
in  this  neighborhood  I  should  come  to  Longmeadow,  at  least 
for  the  night.  Isn't  it  possible,  by  the  way,  that  the  people  who 
formed  this  separate  town  a  hundred  years  ago  may  have  done 
it  on  the  principle  of  elective  affinities  ?  that  they  found  the 
drive  of  enterprise  up  there  too  much  for  them,  and  wanted  to 
get  where  they  could  rest  in  the  bosom  of  encompassing  quiet- 
ness. At  any  rate  they  have  liked  it  all  the  better  ever  since 
because  it  was  quiet. 

My  father's  attachment  to  it  has  been  referred  to ;  it  was  a 
very  deep  and  tender  affection,  and  seemed  to  grow  continually 
stronger  all  his  life.  To  the  end  of  his  days,  I  am  sure  that  he 
thought  of  this  village  as  nearer  to  heaven  than  any  other  place 
of  which  he  knew  on  earth.  I  have  known  a  good  many  others 
who  had  gone  out  from  it  into  the  world,  and  who  have  felt 
about  it  in  after-life  as  the  old  bachelor  felt  about  the  state  of 
single-blessedness,  when  a  friend  who  had  shared  his  lot  of 
loneliness  for  a  good  many  years  was  about  to  be  married,  and 
he  could  think  of  nothing  to  send  him  as  a  wedding  present  so 
perfectly  suitable  as  a  fine  copy  of  "  Paradise  Lost ! " 

There  has  been  nothing  accidental,  either,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, in  the  development  of  this  lovely  village.  One  cannot 
stand  in  it,  I  am  sure,  without  feeling  the  power  of  those  mold- 
ing forces  from  which  it  has  come. 

No  doubt  the  spirit  of  the  early  settlers  has  contributed  to  it ; 
God-fearing,  prosperous,  middle-class  English  emigrants.  No 
doubt  the  fact  that  the  original  blood  has  continued  here  without 
any  general  admixture  of  foreign  elements,  has  contributed  to 
it ;  and  the  very  configuration  of  its  territory  has  had  an  influ- 
ence in  the  same  direction  ;  the  placid  river,  the  mellow  mea- 
dows, the  long  level  reaches  of  the  higher  table  land.  But  after 
all,  there  has  been  something  back  of  all  these,  to  produce  the 
result  in  which  we  delight ;  and  that  has  been  simply  the  force 


8o 

of  the  Christian  religion,  here  resident  and  regnant  from  the 
beginning.  I  do  not  say  this  as  a  minister,  but  as  a  student 
of  history,  accustomed  to  trace  effects  to  causes. 

No  village  like  this  was  possible  in  the  Pagan  times,  or  is  pos- 
sible now  in  Pagan  lands.  The  whole  spirit  of  society  in  the 
ages  before  Christ  pressed  steadily  in  other  directions.  There 
was  not  even  that  love  of  charming  natural  landscape  which  is 
here  so  constantly  gratified.  It  does  not  appear  in  the  writings 
of  the  historians,  or  the  philosophers,  or  even  of  the  poets.  It 
stands  connected  with  a  higher  conception  of  God  than  then 
existed  ;  and  Theocritus  himself — whose  idyls  have  so  long  been 
famous  in  the  world — seems  to  have  got  something  of  his  lan- 
guage, as  well  as  of  the  better  part  of  his  spirit,  from  the  psalms, 
with  which  he  may  well  have  become  acquainted,  in  the  then 
recent  Septuagint  version,  while  he  tarried  at  Alexandria.  I 
know,  of  course,  that  Horace  has  some  delightful  lines,  express- 
ing his  own  wish  for  a  moderate  portion  of  land,  with  a  garden, 
and  a  fountain  in  it,  a  brook  beside  the  house,  and  a  little  wood- 
land not  far  off.  But  even  he  says  that  it  is  only  when  the  mer- 
chant dreads  the  stormy  winds  and  the  Icarian  waves  that  he 
commends  tranquillity,  and  rural  retirement ;  and  though  he 
represents  the  sated  usurer  as  envying  the  happiness  of  the  man 
who  lives  removed  from  business,  and  cultivates  his  paternal 
acres  with  his  own  oxen,  he  adds  that  the  man  so  moved  toward 
the  country  called  in  his  money  at  the  Ides,  only  to  put  it  out 
again  at  the  Calends  ! 

The  gentler  sensibilities,  the  finer  and  more  tranquil  tastes, 
were  not  then  nurtured  as  they  have  been  in  the  times  since 
Christ.  Men  who  had  no  clear  expectation  of  a  life  beyond  the 
present  were  eager  to  crowd  the  life  which  they  had  with  fierce 
excitements,  brilliant  success,  and  passionate  pleasures.  So  the 
tendency  was  constant  with  them  toward  splendid  spectacles, 
and  the  fascinating  pageantry  of  life.  An  existence  without 
these  appeared  monotonous,  unrewarding.  Slavery,  too,  was  uni- 
versal in  those  times,  as  it  has  not  been  since,  and  can  never 
be  again ;  and  the  labors  of  the  field,  as  performed  by  slaves, 
came  to  seem  despicable. 


SECOND  LONG-MEADOW  PASTOR— FROM  1785  TO   1819. 


8i 

Women  were  not  honored,  either,  as  they  have  been  since 
Christ ;  as  they  have  always  been  honored  here ;  and  their  deli- 
cate influence  was  not  widely  and  intimately  felt.  It  is  to  that, 
that  these  villages  of  New  England  owe  much  of  their  beauty. 
If  there  was  any  defect  in  the  large  and  admirable  presentation 
this  morning  of  the  history  of  this  town,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
it  lay  in  the  want  of  the  full  recognition  of  its  indebtedness  to 
woman, — which  no  doubt  will  be  abundantly  supplied  when  we 
come  to  read  the  addresses  in  their  completeness.  I,  for  one, 
should  like  to  know  what  Abigail  Davenport  did  for  Longmea- 
dow,  as  well  as  what  Doctor  Williams  accomplished.  I  should 
like  to  know  what  that  saintly  mother  of  my  father, — whom  of 
course  I  never  saw,  but  of  whom  in  his  very  last  weeks  on  earth 
he  spoke  with  tender,  filial  love — did  for  the  village,  as  well  as 
what  was  done  by  her  husband.  These  very  trees  around  us 
seem  to  represent  such  a  feminine  influence.  The  oak,  or  the 
hickory,  is  a  natural  image  of  the  robust  masculine  force.  The 
elm  in  its  graceful  and  symmetrical  sweep,  appears  to  represent 
the  more  refined  and  delicate,  yet  not  less  strong,  feminine 
nature.  And  all  this  great  cathedral  of  the  elms,  through  which 
we  walk  as  through  a  nave  along  these  streets,  seems  typical  of 
the  influences  here  long  exerted  by  faithful  and  cultured  Chris- 
tian women. 

So  it  was — in  the  absence  of  the  forces  prevailing  in  our  times 
— that  village  life  had  almost  died  out  of  Italy  in  the  time  of 
Augustus,  and  it  took  centuries  to  establish  it  again  ;  in  fact  it 
never  has  been  there  fully  re-established.  And  so  it  is  that  a  vil- 
lage like  this  becomes  a  fruit  and  a  trophy  of  the  Divine  Faith 
whichjcame  out  of  Nazareth.  It  is  certainly  a  grander  attesta- 
tion of  that  Faith  than  could  be  furnished  by  many  elaborate 
argumentative  proofs. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  either,  that  it  has  been  Christianity 
in  what  are  often  regarded  as  its  more  austere  and  less  attractive 
forms,  which  has  built  up  this  remarkable  beauty  and  peace. 
The  most  orthodox  of  doctrines  have  always  here  been  preached ; 
of  Law,  and  Sin,  Atonement  by  Christ,  Regeneration,  eternal 
Judgment  and  Recompense. 


82 

Men  say  often,  in  our  time,  that  these  doctrines  only  repress 
and  repel  ;  that  they  have  no  affinities  with  fine  and  delicate 
intellectual  and  social  culture  ;  that  a  gentler,  daintier,  and  more 
soothing  Faith  is  necessary  to  such.  All  history  disproves  the 
assertion.  I  have  never  believed  it ;  I  think  I  believe  it  less 
than  ever  to-day. 

The  doctrines  here  preached  have  been  the  same  which  Paul 
proclaimed,  and  in  which  he  found  the  sure  source  and  support, 
for  himself  and  others,  of  love,  joy,  gentleness,  peace.  '  They 
have  been  the  same  which  Augustine  preached,  and  in  which  his 
heart  rested  in  security  while  the  Vandals  raged  around  his 
death-bed.  They  have  given  seriousness  to  life  here,  no  doubt ; 
even  solemnity;  but  they  have  not  impaired,  they  have  only 
added  to,  true  beauty  of  character.  Out  of  fiery  heats  comes 
the  purest  gold.  It  is  the  cloud  from  which  the  lightnings  leap 
which  is  touched,  when  the  sun's  radiance  smites  it,  with  ame- 
thyst and  gold.  It  is  the  vast  earthquake  force  which  crushes 
mountains,  which  also,  they  say,  fashions  the  inestimable  crys- 
tals of  the  diamond.  And  so  from  the  teachings  of  divine 
truth  which  many  call  stern,  sterile,  and  harsh,  has  come  this 
loveliness  unsurpassed,  in  human  work  and  human  life.  A  gleam 
from  the  immensities  has  touched  the  common  activities  of  men. 
The  solemn  voices  out  of  eternity  have  only  given  emphasis  to 
the  message  always  connected  with  them  of  the  Divine  patience 
and  grace  ;  and  men  have  been  reverent,  submissive,  faithful, 
by  reason  of  their  religion,  while  also  frugal,  industrious,  and 
free. 

With  such  orthodoxy  of  doctrine  has  been  connected,  also,  a 
most  exact  and  simple  democracy  in  the  administration  first  of 
church  affairs,  then  of  the  parish,  and  then  of  the  town ;  so  that, 
as  we  were  told  in  the  morning,  the  moderator  of  the  society 
must  always  be  one  chosen  by  its  distinct  vote,  and  a  layman  at 
that.  Men  say  sometimes  that  such  democracy  tends  to  rude- 
ness, roughness  of  manner,  and  a  sharp  self-assertion.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  has  manifestly  tended  here  to  a  just  self-respect, 
to  independence  of  character,  to  mutual  good  will,  and  to  kindly 
offices  among  neighbors. 


83 

Its  effects  are  seen  in  the  common  interest  of  all  in  the  church 
of  their  worship,  and  in  the  village  of  their  love.  And  if  any 
one  thinks  that  the  more  aristocratic  institutions  in  society  and 
in  the  church,  work  more  naturally  toward  beauty  and  grace,  I 
don't  know  that  we  could  answer  him  better  than  by  putting  this 
village,  as  it  stands  before  us,  in  comparison  with  any  village  to 
be  named  on  English  soil,  and  leaving  the  disputant  to  decide  for 
himself  !  The  cathedral  is  not  here,  to  be  sure ;  nor  the  ivied 
and  ornamental  parish  church  ;  nor  the  castle,  and  the  park ; 
but  the  surrounding  prosperity  and  distributed  beauty  are  such 
as  no  English  village  can  show  ;  and  no  one  like  this  ever  sprang 
from  the  loins  of  any  prelatical  or  aristocratic  system  on  earth. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remember  this  ;  and  remember,  also,  how 
long-continuing  has  been  that  energetic  life  in  the  past  of  which 
the  blossom  is  here  around  us.  We  have  had  the  history  of  a 
hundred  years  told  us  this  morning ;  but  back  beyond  the  time 
of  the  earliest  settlers  in  these  meadows  reach  the  influences 
whose  fruit  we  see.  Governor  Bradford  said,  in  his  history  of 
the  Plymouth  Plantations,  that  the  Pilgrims  were  ready  to  come 
from  Leyden  to  these  wilderness  shores  that  they  might  be,  if 
needful,  "  stepping-stones  to  others."  Our  Fathers  made  them- 
selves stepping-stones  for  us.  We  walk  reverently  amid  their 
graves  as  we  come  to  this  celebration.  In  yonder  cemetery  is 
the  seed-field  of  this  abundant  harvest.  Back  even  beyond  that, 
beyond  the  great  age  of  Elizabeth,  back  to  the  Reformation, 
back  to  the  advent  of  Christ  on  the  earth,  are  to  be  traced  the 
secret  forces  of  which  we  see  the  lovely  outcome.  The  stars 
which  to-night  will  look  down  on  these  streets  only  represent 
the  numbers  and  the  glory  of  those  who  have  really,  though 
often  unconsciously,  been  working  and  suffering  for  this  result. 

This  same  development  which  we  see  around  us  is  to  continue, 
too,  I  trust,  for  other  generations  and  other  centuries,  while  the 
conditions  of  this  peculiar  moral  and  social  life  remain  essenti- 
ally unchanged. 

This  seems  prophesied  by  the  past.  All  the  changes,  of  which 
there  have  been  so  many,  in  the  country  and  in  the  world, 
swirling  around  this  peaceful  village,  have  not  hitherto  touched 


84 

it,  unless  to  add  to  it  new  beauty  and  charm.  I  remember  the 
whirlwind  which  a  few  years  ago  swept  over  Deerfield,  Hadley, 
Northampton,  and  laid  many  of  their  majestic  elms  level  with 
the  turf.  I  happened  to  be  riding  northward,  through  the  edges 
of  that  hurricane,  and  I  wondered  at  the  time  whether  these 
elms,  too,  would  have  to  go.  But  even  the  turbulent  and  tem- 
pestuous air  seemed  to  have  heard  the  command  laid  upon  it — 
Don't  touch  Longmeadow  ! 

And  as  long  as  this  village  shall  continue,  in  its  attraction  and 
restful  beauty,  it  will  show  and  will  cultivate  a  much  needed  ele- 
ment in  American  life.  We  think  very  well  of  ourselves  as  a 
nation,  and  have  no  doubt  some  reason  for  doing  so ;  but  we  are 
certainly  a  noisy  people,  and  a  hurrying  people.  The  jump  has 
got  into  the  mind  and  spirit,  as  well  as  the  muscle  ;  and  we  need 
very  much,  now  and  then,  what  Charles  Lamb  said  he  went  into 
the  Quaker  meeting  to  get — "  a  bath  of  silence."  We  need  such 
spots  of  restfulness  as  this,  where  tastefulness,  quiet  industry, 
economy,  and  temperate  enterprise  flourish  together,  under  the 
influence  of  an  educating  religion,  and  combined  with  a  remark- 
able social  equality.  Our  country  will  never  be  at  its  best,  until 
there  are  many  such  villages  in  it.  I  had  almost  said  that  the 
Millenium  will  be  here  whenever  there  are !  There  seems  a  sort  of 
premonitory  gleam  from  that  promised  future  already  upon  these 
charming  and  tranquil  .streets  and  homes;  even  as  on  the  fra- 
grant and  smiling  regions  amid  which,  before  Bunyan's  Pilgrim, 
the  shining  ones  walked.  But,  however  many  villages  there  may 
be  in  coming  time,  showing  the  same  general  character  which 
we  rejoice  to  recognize  here,  I  am  sure  that  there  will  not  be  one 
of  them  all,  even  to  the  end,  more  serene  or  delightful,  or  more 
illustrative  of  the  influences  which  have  founded  and  fashioned  it, 
than  this  of  Longmeadow. 

So  I  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for  your  cordial  wel- 
come, and  pray  that  the  blessing  which  has  been  upon  the  fathers, 
and  on  their  children,  may  continue  to  rest  upon  their  children's 
children,  to  the  end  of  their  history  ! 


In  introducing  the  next  speaker  after  Dr.  Storrs, — Professor 
Edwards  A.  Park,  D.D.,  of  Andover, — the  President  said: 

Exactly  two  hundred  years  ago,  in  1683,  there  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  a  youth  of  nineteen  years  of  age,  afterward  Rev. 
John  Williams  of  Deerfield,  Mass., — the  father  of  Rev.  Stephen  Wil- 
liams, first  upon  the  list  of  the  Mother's  seven  pastors.  This  John 
Williams,  student,  was  wholly  educated  at  Harvard  by  the  liberality  of 
his  maternal  grandfather,  William  Park  of  Roxbury,  Mass.  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  in  the  last  analysis,  the  entire  culture  and 
influence  of  the  Williams  family,  so  far  at  least  as  Mother  Longmeadow 
is  concerned  in  it,  rests  upon  a  Park !  Will  Professor  Edwards  A. 
Park  of  Andover,  illuminate  this — or  any  other — subject  ? 

PROFESSOR  PARK'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen: 

I  cannot  avoid  a  feeling  of  complacency  in  the  thought  that 
among  my  English  ancestors  were  Edward  Park,  a  London  mer- 
chant ;  and  his  son  Henry  Park,  also  a  London  merchant. 
According  to  the  best  information  which  I  can  obtain,  my  remote 
ancestor  Edward  was  a  near  ancestor  of  Deacon  William  Park 
of  Roxbury,  Massachusetts.  About  two  hundred  and  thirty 
years  ago,  Theoda  Park,  a  daughter  of  William,  was  married  to 
Samuel  Williams  of  Roxbury ;  and  her  son,  John  Williams,  the 
celebrated  minister  of  Deerfield,  was  the  father  of  Stephen  Wil- 
liams, the  first,  minister  of  Longmeadow.  He  was  the  ancestor 
of  many  persons  who  have  become  eminent  in  the  State  as  well 
as  the  Church.  Indeed,  I  do  not  find  that  the  Williams  family 
ever  amounted  to  much  in1  this  country,  until  Theoda  Park 
became  the  mother  of  John  Williams,  and  until  her  opulent 
father,  William  Park,  provided  at  his  own  expense  for  the  educa- 
tion of  this  grandson  at  Harvard  College.  I  flatter  myself  with 
the  fancy  that  Deacon  William  Park  inherited  some  portion  of 
his  property  from  my  ancestor  Edward  Park,  the  London  mer- 
chant. 

My  somewhat  remote  relationship  thus  to  the  Williams  family 
has  given  me  an  interest  in  the  career  of  Stephen  Williams,  the 


86 

first  minister  of  Longmeadow.  I  have  been  interested  in  read- 
ing the  stafement  of  President  Edwards  that  David  Brainerd's 
friend  and  interpreter,  "  whose  name  was  John  Wau-waum-pe- 
quun-naunt  "  "  had  lived  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  of  Long- 
meadow,  and  had  been  further  instructed  by  him  at  the  charge 
of  Mr.  Hollis  of  London,  and  undefstood  both  English  and 
Indian,  and  wrote  a  good  hand."  It  is  pleasant  to  associate  this 
village  with  the  interpreter  whom  Jonathan  Edwards  calls  "  an 
ingenious  young  Indian,"  and  who  was  supported  here  by  the 
funds  of  Thomas  Hollis,  and  honored  afterward  by  the  compan- 
ionship of  David  Brainerd. 

It  is  also  pleasant  to  think  that  the  first  minister  of  Long- 
meadow  selected  for  his  ministerial  successor  Richard  Sailer 
Storrs,  three  years  before  the  young  man  began  to  preach. 
Two  sons  of  your  second  minister  were  perhaps  the  two  most 
eminent  men  ever  born  in  Longmeadow.  These  two  were 
Richard  Salter  Storrs  of  Braintree,  and  Charles  Backus  Storrs, 
the  President  of  Western  Reserve  College.  They  were  the 
grandsons  of  Rev.  Eleazer  Williams  of  Mansfield,  Connecticut, 
who  was  a  brother  of  your  first  pastor.  They  were  not  only 
descended  from  Rev.  John  Williams  of  Deerfield,  but  were  also 
connected  in  a  two-fold  way  with  his  eminent  contemporary  and 
friend  Rev.  William  Williams  of  Hatfield. 

In  addition  to  this,  their  step-mother  was  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Stephen  Williams,  the  patriarch  of  Longmeadow.  As  if  this 
Williamsism  were  not  complete  enough,  Richard  Salter  Storrs 
of  Braintree  married  Anne,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  same  Dr. 
Stephen  Williams ;  and  her  father,  Rev.  Stephen  Williams  Steb- 
bins,  was  trained  in  Dr.  Stepheii  Williams'  family  in  the  old 
Longmeadow  parsonage. 

It  may  not  be  easy  for  us  to  form  a  vivid  idea  of  the  excel- 
lences belonging  to  Richard  Salter  Storrs,  your  second  pastor. 
There  is  one  scale,  however,  by  which  we  may  be  aided  in  raising 
our  minds  to  this  idea.  We  have  just  been  listening  to  the 
eloquent  remarks  of  Dr.  Richard  Salter  Storrs  of  Brooklyn. 
We  have  previously  heard  his  sermons  and  read  his  published 
writings.  We  have  thus  a  distinct  idea  of  the  first  line  on  the 
scale.  So  much  is  fixed. 


87 

Now  I  was  once  riding  in  a  rail-car  through  the  town  of  Brain- 
tree.  Two  passengers  behind  me  were  talking  in  loud  tones  on 
the  merits  of  the  Braintree  minister,  who  was  the  father  of  Dr. 
Storrs  who  has  just  addressed  us.  "  How  does  the  son  compare 
with  the  father  ?  "  was  the  question  ;  and  the  answer  was  :  "The 
son  does  not  approach  to  the  father.  He  ought  not  to  be  named 
on  the  same  day."  Here  we  get  a  distinct  idea  of  the  second 
line  on  the  scale. 

We  next  come  to  the  father  of  Dr.  Storrs  of  Braintree.  I  once 
asked  the  Braintree  doctor  whether  he  and  his  father  resembled 
each  other.  "  I  resemble  my  father!"  he  responded.  "  I  am  no 
more  fit  to  be  compared  with  him  than  a  tadpole  is  fit  to  be  com- 
pared with  a  professor  of  astronomy  in  Harvard  College."  Now 
the  difference  between  a  tadpole  and  a  professor  of  astronomy  in 
Harvard  College  is  certainly  very  considerable;  and  we  have 
thus  a  distinct  idea  of  the  third  line  on  the  scale — the  line  which 
marks  the  position  of  Richard  Salter  Storrs  of  Longmeadow. 
If  the  scale  be  rightly  graduated  we  may  easily  account  for  the 
intelligence,  the  taste,  the  beautiful  spirit  which  we  have  seen 
developed  at  this  anniversary,  and  for  which  we  all  feel  so  deeply 
grateful. 

In  the  remark  of  the  Braintree  minister  depreciating  himself, 
he  must  be  suspected  of  using  an  hyperbole.  He  was  celebrated 
as  a  man  of  power.  I  have  often  heard  that  when  a  young  man 
he  once  preached  a  political  sermon  on  a  Fast  Day,  in  which  he 
was  so  pungent  in  his  reproofs  that  seven  of  his  hearers  rose 
from  their  seats  and  walked  out  of  the  sanctuary  with  heavy  and 
noisy  steps.  Mr.  Storrs  had  been  recently  ordained,  and  some 
of  his  parishioners  feared  that  he  would  be  depressed  by  this 
political  movement.  They  attempted  to  console  him  ;  but  he 
assured  them  that  the  occurrence  had  shown  him  some  resem- 
blance between  his  own  work  and  that  of  his  Master  ; — for  "  as 
the  Master  cast  out  seven  devils  from  Mary  Magdalene,  so  I  have 
cast  out  seven  from  the  Braintree  meeting-house."  The  ejected 
politicians  afterwards  bore  the  sobriquet  of  "  the  seven  devils," 
and  never  repeated  their  offense. 


88 

For  more  thai;  sixty  years  I  have  been  familiar  with  the  name 
of  Richard  Salter  Storrs  of  Braintree,  but  I  never  saw  him  until 
the  1 3th  of  December,  1826.  On  that  day  I  heard  him  offer  a 
prayer  ;  and  I  never  heard  a  more  seraphic  address  to  the  throne 
of  grace.  It  was  simply  wonderful.  Since  that  day  I  have 
listened  to  the  eloquence  of  Theremin  and  Louis  Harms  ;  of 
Chalmers,  Guthrie,  and  Gladstone;  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  Web- 
ster, Clay,  Calhoun  ;  but  I  have  never  heard  a  more  effective 
appeal  to  the  conscience  and  to  the  heart  than  I  once  heard  from 
Dr.  Storrs  on  a  cold  and  stormy  evening,  in  a  small  room,  and 
before  an  audience  of  not  more  than  thirty-five  men  and  women. 

I  know  that  the  family  of  the  Williamses  have  eminent  worth, 
but  it  is  not  safe  to  say  much  about  them.  They  know  their 
worth,  and  they  know  that  they  know  it,  and  they  also  know  that 
other  families  ought  to  know  it.  If  they  are  not  treated  with  due 
reverence,  they  know  how  to  signify  their  displeasure.  One 
member  of  the  family  was  a  brave  officer  in  the  French  and 
Indian  war.  He  lived  in  a  village  near  Longmeadow,  and  when 
he  walked  through  the  main  street  of  his  village  he  carried  an 
imposing  cane.  If  any  young  man  did  not  take  off  his  hat  when 
he  met  this  distinguished  colonel,  the  cane  was  uplifted  and  the 
hat  came  off  without  the  young  man's  consent.  This  is  Wil- 
liamsism.  There  are  six  lineal  descendants  of  that  hero  now  sit- 
ting near  me  on  this  platform,  and  if  I  should  not  come  up  to 
the  required  standard  of  praise  they  would  not  hesitate  to  treat 
me  as  their  ancestor  treated  the  ignoramus  who  met  him  in  the 
street.  If  I  should  see  them  approaching  I  should  take  care  to 
be  on  the  opposite  sidewalk ! 

The  Reverend  Eleazer  Williams,  once  a  resident  of  this  vil- 
lage, was  thought  by  many  to  be  the  son  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth 
and  of  Marie  Antoinette,  and  thus  the  lawful  heir  to  the  French 
throne.  He  was  once  met  by  another  clergyman  bearing  the 
honored  name  of  Williams,  and  was  addressed  in  these  solemn 
words  :  "  Eleazer  Williams  !  Do  you  pretend  to  be  the  son  of  the 
French  king  ?  I  tell  you  what !  I  will  not  let  the  name  of  Wil- 
liams be  disgraced  by  any  relationship  to  any  French  monarch. 


FIRST  LONGMEADOW  PASTOR— FROM  1718  TO  1783. 


89 

You  must  do  one  of  two  things.     You   must  either  renounce 
Williamsism  or  else  renounce  Bourbonism  ! " 

This  being  the  spirit  of  the  Williams  family,  I  was  relieved 
by  the  words  of  your  president,  when  he  called  on  me  to  speak 
in  reference  to  that  family,  or  " any  other  subject."  I  flee  for 
refuge,  then,  to  the  "  other  subject."  When  I  came  to  Long- 
meadow  I  intended  to  be  either  a  silent  listener,  or  else  to  say  a 
few  words  on  the  early  New  England  ministers.  This  is  the 
"  other  subject."  But  here  I  am  met  by  a  difficulty.  A  very 
large  number  of  the  early  New  England  ministers  were  Wil- 
liamses.  The  Williamses  are  everywhere.  "The  other  sub- 
ject," then,  seems  to  be  nearly  the  same  with  the  one  I  have 
fled  from.  Still,  I  must  go  on,  even  at  the  hazard  of  losing 
my  hat. 

The  early  ministers  of  New  England  were  noted  for  their 
indefatigable  diligence  in  study.  Some  of  them  devoted  twelve, 
fourteen,  sixteen  hours  a  day  to  their  books  or  manuscripts.  Dr. 
Solomon  Williams  of  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  was  regularly  in  his 
study,  engaged  in  reading  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  Testament, 
before  sunrise  through  the  winter  season.  Many  other  min- 
isters were  like  him.  Two  of  them,  who  were  connected  by  mar- 
riage with  the  Williams  family,  pursued  through  a  period  of  fif- 
teen years  the  following  habit  of  life  :  Each  of  them  entered  his 
study  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  did  not  leave  it 
until  about  twelve.  At  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he 
re-entered  it  and  did  not  leave  it  until  about  six.  He  entered  it 
again  about  seven  and  did  not  leave  it  until  about  nine  in  the 
evening.  Some  of  the  old-time  ministers  were  wont  to  meet 
each  other  for  theological  discussions,  and  to  spend  whole  nights 
in  their  work.  One  of  these  ministers, — who  was  not  connected 
with  the  Williams  family  in  any  other  way  than  that  of  being 
decidedly  opposed  to  and  decidedly  opposed  by  some  members 
of  it, — was  accustomed  to  visit  a  scientific  physician  in  a  neigh- 
boring town  and  spend  a  day  and  a  night  in  theological  debate. 


9o 

On  one  evening  the  clergyman  mounted  his  horse  to  return 
home  ;  the  physician  stood  by  the  horse  after  the  clergyman  had 
mounted  it.  "  A  new  topic  was  started  ;  the  horse  walked  on  a 
few  steps,  and  then  stopped  ;  then  a  few  steps  more,  the  friends 
being  still  earnestly  engaged  in  discussion.  At  last  they  were 
alarmed  at  the  appearance  of  a  fire  in  the  east,  which,  after  a 
short  time,  they  found  was  the  break  of  day  !  " 

Many  early  ministers  of  New  England  were  noted  for  their 
influence  in  educating  their  parishioners.  Their  example  was  a 
means  of  popular  instruction.  Their  sermons  were  a  means  of 
intellectual  and  moral  discipline.  Some  of  these  ministers 
preached  in  a  method  so  logical  and  on  themes  so  inspiriting  as 
to  awaken  many  a  young  man  to  a  habit  of  thinking  for  himself. 
In  the  forenoon  of  the  Sabbath  they  explained  and  proved  a 
great  doctrine  ;  in  the  afternoon  they  drew  inferences  from  it 
and  thus  revealed,  the  connection  between  one  great  truth  and 
another. 

One  of  them,  whose  admirable  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Rev. 
Chester  Williams  of  Hadley,  was  in  the  habit  of  preaching  dis- 
courses like  these  in  one  parish  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
While  riding,  in  his  extreme  old  age,  through  a  neighboring 
parish  he  was  stopped  by  an  utter  stranger  who  proposed  the 
question:  "  Why  do  not  ministers  now  [in  1835]  preach  as  min- 
isters did  when  you  were  in  active  service  ?  "  The  aged  pastor 
asked  :  "  Do  not  the  modern  ministers  preach  as  their  fathers 
did  ?  In  what  respect  do  they  differ  ? "  The  stranger  replied  : 
"  The  old  ministers  divided  their  afternoon  sermons  into  different 
heads,  each  one  beginning  with  the  words,  '  If  what  has  been  said 
in  this  discourse  be  true,  then  it  follows,  first ;'  '  If  what  has  been 
said  in  this  discourse  be  true,  then  it  follows,  second  ; '  and  so 
onward  through  several  heads,  each  one  depending  on  the  fore- 
going ;  but  I  hear  no  such  discourses  from  ministers  now." 
The  venerable  pastor  replied :  "  There  are  two  reasons  for  this 
change;  one  is,  that  the  ministers  of  these  days  have  not  said 
anything  ;  the  other  is,  that  if  they  had  said  anything,  nothing 
would  follow  from  it." 


91 

Many  of  the  New  England  ministers  have  exerted  an  educat- 
ing influence,  not  only  over  their  own  parishioners,  but  also  over 
men  in  other  and  distant  parts  of  the  land.  There  was  one 
pastor,  an  intimate  friend  of  several  eminent  men  in  the  Wil- 
liams family,  and  himself  connected  with  that  family  by  marriage, 
who  retained  a  rural  pastorate  more  than  fifty  years,  and  one  of  his 
parishioners  writes  concerning  him  :  "  When  I  was  a  very  young 
man,  I  used  to  attend  a  meeting  for  debate  in  which  were  from 
ten  to  twenty  persons  liberally  educated  and  residing  in  the 
parish.  Some  of  them  were  law  students,  and  some  theological 
students.  Our  pastor  interested  the  students  of  law  as  well  as 
the  students  of  divinity."  This  logical  pastor  in  a  remote 
country  town  was  regularly  listened  to  by  six  judges  of  Massa- 
chusetts courts.  Young  jurists  learned  principles  of  law  from 
his  discourses,  and  they  diffused  through  a  large  community  the 
knowledge  which  they  had  derived  from  him.  Lawyers  and 
politicians  have  received  no  small  degree  of  honor  which  was 
really  due  to  comparatively  unknown  pastors. 

There  is  one  trivial  incident  which  illustrates  this  fact.  A  min- 
ister in  this  immediate  neighborhood  was  once  asked  in  an  inso- 
lent, if  not  insulting,  way,  "  Do  you  think  that  you  have  got  any 
religion  ?  "  He  answered,  "  None  to  speak  of"  This  apt  reply 
was  mentioned  to  John  Randolph,  who  was  pleased  with  it,  and 
soon  afterwards  said  on  the  floor  of  our  National  House  of 
Representatives,  "  I  have  no  religion  to  speak  of"  The  felici- 
tous remark  has  been  ascribed  to  him  as  an  original  one.  It 
was  borrowed  from  a  minister  who  has  often  preached  in  Long- 
meadow.  The  honor  awarded  to  Nathan  Dane  for  his  celebrated 
ordinance  regarding  the  government  of  the  territory  northwest 
of  the  Ohio  River,  is  to  be  shared  in  part  by  Dr.  Manasseh 
Cutler,  a  pastor  of  a  small  town  in  Massachusetts,  an  astronomer, 
a  botanist,  a  physician,  a  statesman,  a  patriot.  He  was  highly 
esteemed  by  George  Washington  ;  and  was  appointed  by  him 
the  first  judge  of  a  United  States  Court  in  the  Northwestern 
Territory.  Scores  of  humble  pastors  might  be  named  who  have 
extended  their  influence  through  all  the  learned  professions,  and 
through  all  parts  of  our  land.  » 


92 


Many  of  our  early .  ministers  were  noted  for  the  authority 
which  they  maintained  in  their  parishes.  We  may  not  justify 
the  methods  in  which  they  sometimes  used  their  power ; — these 
very  methods,  however,  indicate  their  superiority  to  the  men 
around  them.  I  have  read  of  a  very  aged  pastor  who  was 
thought,  by  some  of  his  parishioners,  to  need  the  help  of  Ruling 
Elders.  The  two  deacons  proposed  to  him  that  he  should 
receive  this  aid.  He  suggested  that  the  two  deacons  themselves 
should  be  appointed  to  the  new  office.  They  consented.  He 
asked  them  what  they  supposed  to  be  the  duties  of  the  Ruling 
Elders.  They  replied  that  he  knew  better  than  they,  and  that 
they  would  do  what  he  said.  "  Well,  then,"  he  answered  :  "  I 
should  like  to  have  one  of  them  come  up  to  my  house  before 
meeting  on  Sunday,  and  get  my  horse  out  of  the  barn,  and  then 
saddle  him,  and  bring  him  up  to  the  door,  and  hold  the  stirrup 
while  I  get  on.  The  other  may  wait  at  the  church  door  and  hold 
him  while  I  get  off  ;  then,  after  meeting,  he  may  bring  him  up  to 
the  steps.  This  is  all  of  my  work  I  can  ever  consent  to  let  the 
Ruling  Elders  do  for  me."  The  story  adds  that  the  office  of 
Ruling  Elders  in  that  church  has  remained  vacant  until  the  pre- 
sent day. 

History  proves,  however,  that,  in  the  main,  the  ministers  of 
New  England  have  used  their  authority  in  a  kind  spirit  and 
with  benign  results.  Whoever  will  study  their  writings  on  the 
sciences,  and  especially  on  theology,  the  most  inspiring  of  the 
sciences — whoever  will  examine  their  intellectual,  and  especially 
their  moral,  greatness — whoever  will  consider  their  personal 
history,  and  the  personal  history  of  their  descendants — will 
be  convinced  that  the  character  of  New  England  has  been 
moulded  by  them  in  large  measure,  and  that  New  Englanders 
at  the  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  owe  to  these  ministers  a 
debt  of  profound  gratitude. 


93 

Music  by  the  band,  at  the  close  of  Professor  Park's  Address, 
was  followed  by  the  Address  of  Rev.  Hubbard  Beebe,  pastor  of 
the  First  Church  in  Longmeadow  from  1837  to  ^43  ; — now  of 
New  York  City.  The  President  said  : 

Three  pastorates  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  years  in  the  aggre- 
gate for  four  generations  of  her  children, — and  four  pastorates  of 
thirty  years  aggregate  for  one  generation, — this  is  the  somewhat 
striking  record  of  the  Mother's  seven  pastorates.  Will  the  Rev. 
Hubbard  Beebe  recall,  for  this  fraternal  hour,  any  reminiscences  of  a 
generation  so  exceptional  in  its  spiritual  requirements  ? 

REV.  MR.  BEEBE'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  President  and  Friends: 

Some  mothers  do  things  which  the  children  cannot  satisfac- 
torily explain  ;  and  this  seems  to  be  the  case  with  our  good 
Mother  Longmeadow  in  the  matter  mentioned  by  the  President. 
Whether  the  two  pastors  who  ministered  to  her  welfare  during 
the  first  one  hundred  years  of  her  history  were  of  such  excep- 
tional excellence  that  it  cost  her  thirty  years  of  patient  toil  to 
find  a  son  worthy  to  succeed  them  ;  or  whether  she  grew  fastidi- 
ous with  advancing  years  ;  or  became  subject  to  the  law  of  con- 
trasts; or  perhaps  had  a  quickened  taste  for  the  spice  which 
variety  is  said  to  give, — I  will  not  here  attempt  to  decide.  One 
thing,  however, 'must  be  obvious  to  all  who  are  familiar  which  her 
history, — that  the  story  of  those  later  pastorates  is  so  intimately 
connected  with  those  of  their  predecessors,  that  it  cannot  well 
be  told  separately  from  them. 

My  ordination  here  occurred  forty-six  years  ago  to-morrow, 
October  18,  1837.  Dr.  Williams  died  fifty -five  years,  and  Mr. 
Storrs  eighteen  years  previously  ;  the  two  pastorates  covering  a 
period  of  one  hundred  years.  A  stranger  among  strangers,  I 
found  it  convenient  to  inquire  about  these  two  remarkable  men. 
Very  soon  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  church,  their  dele- 
gate, took  me  to  an  ecclesiastical  council ;  and  I  asked  him  if  he 
remembered  Dr.  Williams,  and  what  were  his  impressions  of 
him.  He  replied  that  he  had  some  recollections  of  him ;  that  he 
wore  a  large  wig,  and  that  his  appearance  was  very  venerable  and 


94 

imposing  ;  and  then  added,  that  in  his  boyhood  it  used  to  be  said 
that  the  people  of  Longmeadow  regarded  Dr.  Williams  as  their 
Maker;  with  the  exception  of  one  rather  skeptical  fellow  who 
alone  questioned  it.  There  were  no  other  persons  about  whom  all 
were  so  ready  to  converse,  and  of  whom  they  had  so  much  to  say, 
as  of  their  two  earliest  pastors.  Instead  of  having  died  so  many 
years  before,- — those  grand  old  men, — they  rather  seemed  to 
me  to  be  still  living  in  the  memories  and  thoughts  and  daily  lives 
of  the  people  ;  as  if  they  were  still  engaged  in  their  active,  living 
ministries.  It  appeared  that  Dr.  Williams  had  molded  and 
made  them  in  their  home  life  and  Christian  character,  and  that 
Mr.  Storrs  had  both  broadened  and  deepened  their  intellectual 
and  moral  culture.  It  was  also  apparent  that  Dr.  Dickinson  had 
impressed  on  them  the  stamp  of  his  decided  and  emphatic  char- 
acter, and  especially  that  he  had  added  the,  then  new,  temperance 
element ;  so  that,  as  Deacon  Ely  told  me,  he  had  no  longer  to 
carry  the  large  tankard  of  wine  after  the  communion  to  his 
pastor,  as  the  custom  here  had  always  been.  And  then  Dr. 
Condit  came,  and  spent  the  brilliant  years  of  his  pastorate  here, 
and  threw  over  these  households  the  peculiar  charm  of  his  own 
native  grace  and  gentleness. 

And  what  was  the  result  of  all  this  ?  And  what  was  the 
legacy  which  the  early  ministry  of  such  men  had  bequeathed  to 
this  community  ? 

First  of  all — the  Town,  whose  centennial  you  celebrate  to-day, 
was  born  of  this  Church,  which  had  already  had  a  history  of  sixty- 
six  years.  This  is  true  of  other  towns  up  and  down  the  Connec- 
ticut Valley,  and  is  a  marked  peculiarity  of  many  early  towns  of 
New  England. 

Again — this  one  united  and  never  divided  parish  is  not  of 
your  making,  but  the  creation  of  the  fathers  and  the  fruit  of 
their  hundred  years  of  wisely  directed  labor.  A  sickly  and  sen- 
timental religion  disintegrates  and  divides  many  parishes,  and 
inflicts  upon  them  the  miseries  of  two  or  three  small  and  starve- 
ling churches,  begetting  jealousies  and  feuds  which  drag  more 
angels  down  than  they  lift  mortals  up.  To  all  this  your  one 
unique  and  beloved  parish  is  a  rare  and  beautiful  exception. 


95 

But  perhaps  the  richest  inheritance  that  came  to  you  and  to 
us  of  later  times,  is  this  community  of  homogeneous  and  inter- 
woven families,  dwelling  permanently  together  in  their  own 
homes.  Forty-five  years  ago  they  were  all  natives  here,  and  to 
the  manor  born. 

The  Family  is  the  most  original  and  perfect  institution  in  the 
world.  We  do  not  need  the  Bible  to  tell  us  of  its  origin.  It 
stands  out  clearly  by  itself,  like  the  great  mountains;  a  master- 
piece from  the  Creator's  hands.  It  is  also  the  strongest  insti- 
tution in  the  world.  Like  the  Sabbath,  it  survived  the  wreck 
and  ruin  of  the  fall ;  and  centuries  later,  it  emerged  singly  and 
alone  from  the  desolation  of  the  flood,  and  for  the  second  time 
God  planted  the  world  with  a  single  family.  It  has  a  strength 
and  a  unity — yes,  an  organic  unity — which  no  human  power,  no 
changes  of  time,  or  race,  or  country,  can  break  up  or  dissolve. 
Nothing  but  the  awards  and  separations  of  the  final  judgment 
can  effectively  destroy  the  unity  of  the  family. 

But  best  of  all  the  Christian  Family  is  the  most  perfectly  self- 
governed  and  self-governing  institution  in  the  world ;  and  this 
was  the  distinguishing  peculiarity  of  the  families  of  our  New 
England  ancestors.  A  community  of  such  families  made  our 
self-governing  churches,  and  parishes,  and  towns ;  and  these,  in 
turn,  made  our  self-governing  States ;  and  a  Union  of  such 
States  at  length  made  our  grand  and  growing  self-governed 
and  self-governing  empire,— strong  to  vindicate  itself  against  all 
foes  from  abroad,  and  to  crush  out  all  rebellions  at  home ;  and 
by  its  own  vital  forces,  like  the  vital  forces  of  a  tree,  to  throw 
off  the  most  firmly  rooted  and  appalling  system  of  human  slavery 
the  world  ever  saw.  And  self-poised  and  self-governed  still,  it 
is  passing  right  on  to  fill  the  land' and  the  world  with  righteous- 
ness and  with  blessing. 

Do  you  ask,  then,  whence  came  the  Christian  and  church-going 
households  that  were  the  helpers  and  the  strength  of  the  later 
pastors  here  fifty  years  ago  ?  Again  I  reply,  we  did  not  make 
them.  We  inherited  them  from  the  generation  that  preceded  ; 
and  we  tried  to  perpetuate  them  to  the  generation  that  should 
follow.  True,  they  were  the  fruits  of  Christianity ;  but  of  Chris- 


-96 

tianity  as  preached  in  the  sanctuary,  and  exemplified  in  the  prac- 
tice, and  made  lovely  and  winning  in  the  homes  of  the  elder 
pastors. 

In  the  precious  revivals  which  gladdened  us  with  exceeding 
joy,  they  too  were  the  sowers  and  we  the  reapers. 

In  the  missionary  work,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  they  were 
the  pioneers,  and  we  only  the  followers.  And  of  the  daughters 
of  this  church  there  went  out  a  goodly  number,  to  carry  the 
light  of  your  homes  to  the  dark  places  of  the  earth,  which  are 
full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.  Yes,  and  one  of  them,  a  con- 
vert here  in  1 840,  is  still  toiling  in  her  loved  work  on  the  side  of 
Mount  Lebanon,  having  just  returned  from  the  grave  of  her  only 
and  noble  son — and  she  a  widow. 

And  now,  what  is  to  be  the  future  of  this  church,  and  of  the 
generations  that  are  to  come  ?  Shall  your  grand  inheritance 
from  the  past  become  smaller  or  greater, — richer  or  poorer  ?  Your 
Christian  homes  are  still  here,  your  one  united  church  and  one 
parish,  with  the  same  evangelical  .ministry.  It  is  doubtless 
physiologically  intelligible  that  the  present  generation  should, 
by  a  kind  of  moral  atavism,  after  an  intervening  generation  of 
shorter  pastorates,  return  to  the  ways  of  their  grandfathers  ;  and 
that  so  the  present  pastor  should  have  already  equalled  the  term 
of  one  of  those  earlier  pastorates.  And  if  he  shall  have  the  gift 
and  the  grace  of  continuance  to  labor  on  thirty-four  years  more, 
and  thus  leave  his  earliest  predecessor  no  longer  peerless,  I  am 
very  sure  that  none  of  us,  his  later  brethren,  will  demur. 

Toil  on  then,  my  brother, — more  cheerful  and  more  hopeful  than 
your  immediate  predecessors  did,  trusting  that  your  future,  and 
that  of  your  people,  may  be  what  the  psalmist  so  earnestly  longed 
and  prayed  for; — "That  your  sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  up  in 
their  youth :  that  your  daughters  may  be  as  corner-stones,  polished 
after  the  similitude  of  a  palace :  that  your  garners  may  be  full, 
affording  all  manner  of  store :  that  your  oxen  may  be  strong  to 
labor :  that  there  be  no  breaking  in,  nor  going  out ;  and  that  there 
be  no  complaining  in  your  streets.  Happy  is  that  people  that  is 
in  such  a  case; — yea,  happy  is  that  people,  whose  God  is  the 
Lord." 


97 

The  Address  of  Rev.  Mr.  Beebe  was  followed  by  that  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Wolcott,  D.D.,  of  Cleveland,  O.,  who  succeeded  the  former 
in  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Church  of  Longmeadow  in  1843. 
The  President  said  : 

The  name  of  Wolcott  the  Mother  learned  long  ago  to  honor  and 
to  love.  In  was  in  1704, — the  very  year  in  which  Deerfield  was 
captured,  and  her  earliest  pastor,  then  a  boy  of  ten  years,  was  seized 
into  captivity, — that  a  certain  Roger  Wolcott,  near  neighbor  upon  the 
south,  building  himself  a  home,  adorned  the  walls  of  its  parlor  with 
a  large  fresco  painting  representing  that  midnight  assault.  Familiarity 
with  such  a  painting  could  hardly  fail  of  inspiring  the  rising  Wolcott 
family,  both  with  a  strong  martial  ardor,  and  a  warm  Williams  attach- 
ment. 

This  seed-fact  bore  fruit  first,  when,  in  1745,  this  same  Roger  Wol- 
cott, as  second  in  command  of  the  famous  Louisburg  expedition,  led 
to  that  successful  seige  a  band  of  the  Mother's  own  sons,  with  her 
Pastor  Williams  as  their  chaplain ;  receiving  therefor  the  public  thanks 
of  Governor  Shirley  of  Massachusetts.  It  bore  still  further  fruit,  when, 
just  one  hundred  years  later,  a  descendant  of  this  valiant  Roger  Wol- 
cott entered  the  line  of  the  Mother's  own  pastoral  succession  in 
this  branch  of  the  church  militant.  The  voice  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Wolcott  will  be  ever  welcome  in  the  ears  of  the  Mother  herself,  or  of 
any  of  her  children. 

REV.  DR.  WOLCOTT'S  ADDRESS. 

I  am  obliged  to  you,  Mr.  President,  for  the  very  generous 
terms  in  which  you  have  referred  to  me,  and  should  be  pleased 
to  honor  this  flattering  introduction  with  a  suitable  response ; 
the  waning  time  admonishes  me  to  be  brief. 

The  reminiscences  of  a  youthful  pastorate  in  this  parish  are 
what  brought  me  to  this  celebration  to-day.  But  the  sentiment 
to  which  I  am  asked  to  respond,  has  reference  to  a  period  much 
earlier  than  the  date  of  the  event  which  this  centennial  day  com- 
memorates, and  really  includes  historic  events  of  still  greater 
antiquity.  In  late  years  nearly  all  the  families  of  this  period 
have  been  brought  into  kinship  by  intermarriages.  But  in  the 
early  history  of  the  place,  when  the  families  were  fewer,1  they 
built  themselves  up  by  alliances  with  families  in  neighboring 


98 

communities.  They  crossed  the  State  border  for  this  purpose  ; 
and  thus  it  happens  that  the  family  to  which  I  belong  became  an 
element  in  the  early  and  forming  period  of  this  community. 
Two  of  the  grand-daughters  of  Henry  Wolcott,  our  emigrant 
ancestor,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  town  of  Windsor,  and  the 
Colony  of  Connecticut,  both  sisters  of  Gov.  Roger  Wolcott, 
whom  the  President  of  the  day  has  named,  made  their  homes  in 
Longmeadow.  The  elder,  Elizabeth,  in  1680,  more  than  two 
centuries  ago,  in  the  "  Precinct  period  "  referred  to  by  the  orator 
of  the  day — married  Daniel  Cooley ;  the  younger,  Joanna,  in 
1690,  married  John  Colton.  These  ladies,  through  their  descend- 
ants, are  now  represented  in  most  of  the  leading  families  of 
the  place.  I  remember  during  my  residence  here  to  have 
seen  an  antique  volume  of  manuscript  poems  by  one  Jonathan 
Stebbins,  a  native  bard,  in  which  the  younger  lady  is  the  subject 
of  several  elegiac  stanzas.  The  tender  tribute  paid  by  a  cotem- 
porary  to  Mrs.  Joanna  Colton  was,  I  trust,  deserved ;  it  certainly 
has  been  due  to  Colton  ladies  who  have  lived  here  since  her  day. 

Two  generations  later,  a  Henry  Wolcot  married  Abigail  Cooley, 
and  through  a  large  family  of  children  brought  up  here,  formed 
still  further  connections  between  the  Family  and  the  Parish. 
Still  later,  a  Cornelius  Wolcott  married  in  the  East  Parish,  and 
settled  in  this  region  ;  and  thus  it  happens  that  a  name  which 
has  been  borne  by  two  of  the  governors  of  Connecticut,  appears 
on  the  list  of  your  Centennial  Committee. 

My  own  pastorate  in  this  parish  commenced  forty  years  ago, 
this  autumn.  If  those  were  not  the  palmy  days  of  the  place,  it 
certainly  was  not  less  true  then  than  now,  that  it  was  the  best 
specimen  extant  of  preserved  Puritanism.  This  was  manifested 
in  that  reverence  for  sacred  institutions,  which  was  always  a  dis- 
tinctive mark  of  Puritan  faith.  It  was  conspicuous  in  their 
deference  toward  their  minister,  whom  they  treated  with  thought- 
ful respect  and  courtesy.  When  the  parish  killed  its  pig,  the 
minister  was  sure  to  receive  a  spare-rib. 

Our  three  eldest  sons,  now  far  away,  were  born  here,  and  their 
regret  is  as  sincere  as  my  own,  that  they  cannot  be  present  to 
participate  in  this  festival.  Since  I  stepped  upon  this  platform, 


99 

the  following  telegram  from  two  of  them  has  been  placed  in  my 
hands  by  the  friend  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  with  a  request 
that  I  would  read  it. 

DENVER,  COL.,  Oct.  i5th,  1883. 
REV.  JOHN  W.  HARDING. 

As  sons  of  Longmeadow  we  congratulate  her  on  arriving  at  this 
centennial  anniversary  in  such  vigorous  health  and  prosperity ;  and 
join  in  most  sincere  regrets  that  we  cannot,  upon  this  joyous  occasion, 
unite  with  her  other  children  and  friends  in  celebrating  her  one  hun- 
dredth birthday.  Horace  Greeley's  advice  has  led  us  a  long  way 
from  our  old  home,  but  we  left  our  hearts  behind  us. 

HENRY  R.  WOLCOTT  : — EDWARD  O.  WOLCOTT. 

In  the  council  which  sanctioned  the  dissolution  of  my  pastoral 
relation  here,  the  closing  prayer  was  offered  by  the  venerable 
minister  from  Braintree,  to  whom  repeated  reference  has  been 
made.  He  prayed,  I  remember,  that  it  might  be  my  privilege  to 
revisit  the  place  and  preach  again  in  its  pulpit.  That  prayer 
waited  twenty  years  for  its  answer,  when  on  the  invitation  of  the 
pastor  I  passed  a  Sabbath  here.  Again,  on  the  last  summer,  in 
compliance  with  another  invitation  from  him,  Mrs.  Wolcott  and 
myself  together  passed  a  Sabbath  here.  We  had  been  looking 
around  a  little  for  a  place  in  the  Eastern  States  to  which. we 
could  retire,  and  pass  the  quiet  evening  of  a  busy  and  diversified 
life.  It  seemed  to  us  that  our  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leete,  had 
done  a  sensible  thing  in  securing  a  freehold  here.  It  occurred  to 
us  that  if  the  opportunity  should  offer,  it  might  not  be  unwise  for 
us  to  do  the  same  thing,  and  close  our  wedded  life  where  it  com- 
menced. I  thought  of  the  line  in  Parnell's  Hermit : 
"  Prayer  all  his  business,  all  his  pleasure  praise." 

And  while  I  could  not  promise  that  our  pursuits  would  be 
exclusively  spiritual,  I  could  not  but  hope  that  such  pursuits 
would  not  be  uncongenial,  as  they  would  not  be  unbecoming, 
to  our  closing  days.  And  I  could  think  of  no  locality  more 
favorable  to  meditations  and  employments  of  this  nature,  than 
these  tranquil  shades.  Should  this  thought  be  realized  (as  it  now 
seems  likely  to  be)  it  would  be  but  the  fulfillment  of  a  desire 
which  I  remember  to  have  cherished  many  years  ago — that  I 
might  be  joined  with  this  people  in  burial,  to  await  with'  them 
an  associated  rising  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 


IOO 

The  Address  of  Dr.  Wolcott  was  followed  by  that  of  Rev. 
Charles  R.  Bliss,  Secretary  of  the  New  West  Commission  at 
Chicago,  introduced  as  follows  by  the  President : 

"  Westward  ho  ?  "  was  the  inspiration  and  the  watchword  of  the 
Mother's  own  settlement,  two  hundred  years  ago.  She  hath  since 
heard  of  a  Newer  West,  of  yet  brighter  beauty  and  broader  bounty  than 
her  own.  To  her  this  seems  scarcely  credible,  and  where  ignorance 
is  Bliss,  'tis  folly,  perhaps,  to  seek  to  be  wise.  Yet  she k  would  fain 
ask  of  her  younger  son,  the  honored  commissioner  of  that  New  West, 
whether  he  hath  anywhere  there  seen  aught  to  shake  his  allegiance  to 
herself  ?  Will  the  Rev.  Charles  R.  Bliss  respond  ? 

RESPONSE  OF  MR.  BLISS. 

No,  Mr.  President, — My  heart  untraveled  fondly  turns  to  home. 
There  are  loftier  mountains  than  those  skirting  this  valley,  wider 
plains,  more  majestic  rivers  than  yonder  silver  stream,  but  never 
did  hills  and  valleys,  meadows  and  streams,  combine  in  a  more 
beautiful  landscape  than  that  which  met  the  sight  of  our  fathers, 
as  they  wound  down  the  Bay  Path  to  the  banks  of  the  Connecti- 
cut, the  vanguard  of  the  mighty  army  that  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  has  been  marching  westward. 

In  introducing  me  you  have  taken  up  the  old  Elizabethan 
watchword  "  Westward  ho ! "  and  alluded  to  the  fact  that  my 
special  work  is  on  our  western  frontiers,  in  transplanting,  if  it 
may  be  by  God's  help,  the  New  England  institutions  and  spirit 
into  the  New  West. 

How  strange  it  seems  that  this  old  town  was  once  a  border 
town, — an  outpost  of  civilization.  Then  deep  ravines  intersected 
this  broad  and  level  street ;  a  wilderness  of  oaks  and  chestnuts 
stood  in  place  of  these  overhanging  elms ;  rank  vines  and 
impenetrable  thickets  covered  the  meadows  at  our  feet.  Only 
the  resolution  and  the  sinews  of  vigorous  and  brave  men  could 
have  filled  those  ravines,  felled  those  forests,  and  cleared  those 
meadows. 

And  how  different  the  ideas  upon  which  they  built  this 
ancient  border  town  from  those  on  which  many  border  towns  are 
now  rising  in  the  New  West.  On  the  very  spot  covered  by  this 


101 

spacious  tent  our  fathers  built  a  Meeting-House,  and  not  far  away 
a  Schoql-house;  but  where  did  they  put  the  Saloon,  the  Dance- 
house,  and  the  Billiard  hall  ?  Alas,  that  age  was  dull  and  tame. 
They  gave  to  piety  what  was  due  to  conviviality ;  to  God  what 
was  due  to  the  devil.  How  can  we  forgive  them  !  Ask  those 
wise  gentlemen,  who  pity  and  defame  the  Puritans,  what  can  ever 
condone  the  loss  of  the  early  saloon,  the  dance-house,  and  the 
billiard  hall  ! 

In  other  respects,  too,  they  were  peculiar,  In  the  administration 
of  law  they  were  slow,  submissive  to  magistrates,  careful  of  legal 
forms,  anxious  to  guard  human  rights.  vBut  they  committed  one 
mistake  ;  they  never  saw  the  advantages  of  putting  the  judicial 
ermine  upon  the  allies  of  criminals,  and  then  appealing  to  popu- 
lar fury  to  punish  crime.  Being  in  Salt  Lake  City  the  past  sum- 
mer, I  saw  one  day  an  unusual  commotion.  A  negro  had  shot  a 
white  man,  and  been  himself  hung  by  the  mob ;  and  the  second 
transaction  followed  the  first  in  less  than  twenty  minutes,  and 
cost  nothing.  What  a  saving  of  time,  and  legal  costs ! 

But  dropping  the  tone  of  satire, — -it  was  an  honor  beyond  that 
of  titles  and  crowns  that  the  founders  of  this  town  brought  every 
popular  purpose,  practice,  and  current  of  feeling  to  the  test  of  the 
word  of  God.  Commissioned  in  His  providence  to  build  a  town, 
they  put  into  their  work  not  only  toil  and  daring  and  endurance, 
but  fidelity  to  moral  ideas,  and  obedience  to  divine  instructions. 
Would  that  the  founders  of  the  countless  towns  now  springing 
up  in  the  far  West  were  actuated  by  similar  principles  ;  but,  as 
the  spent  ripples  on  a  lee-shore  so  are  the  conservative  influences 
of  justice,  intelligence,  and  religion  upon  many  of  those  towns. 
A  revival  of  the  rigid  and  uncompromising  virtues  that  brought 
our  fathers  here,  and  sustained  them  till  their  work  was  grandly 
done,  is  needed  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ocean;  and  upon 
its  coming,  we  cannot  doubt,  rests  the  safety  of  the  republic. 

But  I  do  not  forget,  Mr.  President,  that  I  am  expected  to 
speak  as  a  representative  of  the  family  whose  name  I  bear.  The 
earliest  authentic  records  of  the  family  take  us  across  the  sea  to 
the  Parish  of  Belstone,  Devonshire,  England,  and  back  to  the 
year  1550.  About  that  year  was  born  Thomas  Bliss — although 


IO2 

the  names  of  his  parents  cannot  be  traced  in  the  illegible 
records  of  the  parish.  He  succeeds  to  valuable  estates,  .belongs 
to  the  yeomanry,  and  is  a  Puritan.  From  this  fact  arise  persecu- 
tions. He  is  imprisoned,  fined,  and  almost  ruined  in  health  and 
purse.  He  has  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  sons  ;  Jonathan, 
Thomas,  and  George.  The  famous  Parliament  of  1628  is  about 
to  assemble.  The  country  is  deeply  excited  over  the  usurpations 
of  King  Charles,  and  members  of  Parliament  are  escorted  to 
London  by  their  determined  supporters.  Among  these  are  the 
two  elder  of  the  Bliss  brothers,  mounted  upon  iron-grey  steeds. 
The  King's  spies  learn  th'eir  names,  and  they  are  fined  a  thousand 
pounds  for  non-conformity  and  thrown  into  prison.  The  three 
brothers,  with  several  others,  are  led  through  the  market-place 
in  Okehampton  with  ropes  around  their  necks.  Jonathan  dies 
from  a  disease  contracted  in  prison. 

From  these  indignities  and  wrongs  the  family  soon  decided  to 
escape  by  coming  to  America.  Thomas,  with  his  wife  Margaret 
and  six  children,  his  brother  George,  and  his  nephew  Thomas, 
son  of  Jonathan,  embark  in  1635.  The  nephew  settles  in  Reho- 
both,  George  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  while  Thomas  and  his  family 
go  first  to  Newtown,  and  then  to  Hartford.  Thomas  soon  dies, 
and  Margaret,  with  her  family  increased  to  ten  children,  removes 
to  Springfield.  And  from  that  ten  have  sprung  the  larger  part 
of  the  entire  family,  now  living,  reaching  the  number  of  nearly 
nine  thousand  souls. 

The  eloquent  remarks  that  have  been  made  to-day  upon  this 
platform,  concerning  early  New  England  women  and  their 
influence  in  molding  society,  apply  with  emphasis  to  Margaret 
Bliss.  She  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  energy,  force  of  char- 
acter, and  intellectual  ability.  In  the  midst  of  the  severe  hard- 
ships of  new  settlements,  she  reared  a  large  family,  whose 
characters  bore  the  impress  of  superior  training.  She  conducted 
business  affairs  with  great  discretion  and  success.  She  made 
exhausting  journeys,  endured  many  privations,  and,  having 
reached  the  great  age  of  ninety  years,  passed  away,  leaving  the 
record  of  a  noble  life.  She  is  described  as  good  looking,  with  a 
broad  open  brow,  fair  hair,  and  blue  eyes;  and  the  family 


IDS 

traditions  declare  her  to  have  been,  in  character,  manners,  and 
personal  appearance,  worthy  of  any  rank  in  life.  How  rich  was 
early  New  England  in  women  of  that  stamp,  and  how  much  of 
the  moral  force  for  which  she  is  distinguished  is  due  to  them. 

The  Blisses  have  always  been  an  indefatigable  and  plucky 
sort  of  people.  Feats  of  remarkable  physical  prowess  are  nar- 
rated of  some  of  them.  Others  have  lived  to  very  great  age, 
not  seldom  passing  eighty  years,  sometimes  ninety,  and  in  some 
instances  measuring  the  limit  of  a  full  century.  And  tradition  has 
it  that  sometimes  they  have  disputed  the  advance  of  death 
itself.  One  of  our  ancestors,  though  bearing  another  name, 
actually  died,  as  was  supposed,  and  was  laid  out  for  burial ;  when 
she  suddenly  sat  up,  and  afterward  became  the  mother  of  nine- 
teen children. — Where  is  Brother  Colton  now !  The  plethora 
of  deacons  in  his  family  is  hardly  worthy  of  mention  in  com- 
parison with  a  fact  like  this. 

By  the  way,  however,  that  abundance  of  deacons  in  the 
Colton  family  is  easily  explained.  Not  only  did  the  original 
Captain  Thomas  Colton,  and  also  his  nephew,  Samuel,  marry 
Blisses,  but  the  great  Quartermaster  himself  married  the  widow 
of  a  Bliss.  The  Longmeadow  diaconate,  it  may  also  be  in  order 
to  say,  has  for  sometime  lacked  a  Colton.  There  is  none  in  it 
now,  though  there  is  a  Bliss,  whose  name  is  Noah  ;  and  for  forty 
years  before  his  elevation  to  office,  there  was  no  Colton,  but 
there  was  a  Bliss,  whose  name  was  Ebenezer.  Evidently,  a  few 
more  Coltons  should  have  married  Blisses. 

Like  the  Coltons,  the  Blisses  are  proud  of  their  deacons;  but 
they  do  not  rest  their  claims  to  fame  on  them  alone.  Look  at 
the  facts.  Fifth  from  Thomas  of  Belstone,  through  Margaret 
and  Samuel  of  Springfield,  is  Daniel,  who  graduated  at  Harvard, 
became  pastor  at  Concord,  Mass.,  was  a  leading  pulpit  orator  of 
his  day,  a  friend  of  Whitefield,  and  through  Phebe,  his  daughter, 
who  married  an  Emerson,  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson. 

The  Blisses  have  always  despised  pettifoggers,  but  taken  very 
kindly  to  good  lawyers,  and  not  a  few  of  them  have  risen 
to  eminence  in  the  legal  profession.  Sixth  from  Thomas  of 


IO4 

Belstone,  through  Lawrence  of  Springfield,  was  Jonathan,  Chief 
Justice  of  New  Brunswick.  William  B.,  his  son,  was  Chief 
Justice  of  Nova  Scotia.  Seventh  from  Thomas  of  Belstone, 
through  Samuel  of  Longmeadow,  was  John  Murray,  Solicitor 
General  and  Judge  of  New  Brunswick.  Eighth  in  the  same 
line  was  Lemuel  Wilmot,  Solicitor  General  and  Governor  of 
New  Brunswick.  Ninth  from  Thomas  of  Belstone,  through 
Nathaniel  of  Springfield  and  Samuel,  2d,  of  Longmeadow,  is 
Philemon,  Chief  Justice  of  Dakota,  and  afterward  Supreme 
Judge  of  Missouri.  But  time  would  fail  me  to  speak  of  all  our 
eminent  lawyers, — of  Alexander  of  Boston  and  Washington ;  of 
George,  and  George  his  son,  and  George  his  grandson  of 
Springfield  and  New  York;  of  Metcalf  of  Troy;  of  Asahel 
of  Michigan ;  of  Neziah  of  Chicago ;  of  William  H.  of  St. 
Louis,  and  scores  of  others  who  have  not  only  won  success  as 
lawyers,  but  have  been  advanced  to  high  responsibilities  by 
their  fellow  citizens.  One  man  of  the  last  century  should  not 
be  forgotten.  Hon.  John  Bliss  of  Wilbraham,  born  and  brought 
up  in  Longmeadow,  and  early  a  member  of  this  church,  became 
one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  time  in  this  region, 
serving  many  years  as  Judge,  in  three  Provincial  Congresses, 
and  twenty-eight-years  in  the  Legislature,  or  in  the  Executive 
Council. 

It  also  reflects  honor  upon  the  family  that  religious  motives 
so  much  shaped  their  actions.  How  could  it  be  otherwise, 
springing  from  such  a  parentage.  The  forces  of  personal  char- 
acter that  lead  men  to  look  calmly  upon  the  spoiling  of  their 
goods,  imprisonment,  and  even  death  itself,  rather  than  be  false 
to  their  religious  convictions,  do  not  expend  their  strength  in 
one  generation.  They  perpetuate  themselves,  and  become  the 
unconscious  springs  and  sources  of  character  through  successive 
centuries. 

As  might  be  supposed,  ministers  and  missionaries  have  been 
numerous  in  the  family.  Eighth  from  Thomas  of  Belstone, 
through  Nathaniel,  one  of  the  founders  of  this  church,  is  Asher, 
once  a  devoted  missionary  of  the  American  Board  to  the  Indians. 
In  the  line  of  Samuel,  are  Edwin  N.  and  Isaac  G.,  who  have  long 


IDS 

been  honored  missionaries  resident  in  Constantinople ;  also  Daniel, 
missionary  President  of  Beirut  College,  Syria.  Nor  is  the  last 
that  I  mention  the  least — Emily  Bliss  Gould,  eighth  from 
Thomas,  through  Lawrence  of  Springfield, — a  devoted  Christian 
woman,  who  employed  her  means  and  leisure,  during  an  ex- 
tended residence  in  Rome,  to  establish  a  Christian  school  and 
church. 

Many  other  -honorable  professions  and  pursuits  bear  a  similar 
witness.  Nor  has  the  country,  in  her  repeated  perils,  called 
upon  them  in  vain.  More  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  have 
shouldered  arms  in  her  defense,  serving  her  in  all  ranks  from  the 
private  to  the  general,  and  scores  of  them  have  died  in  her  behalf. 
This  well  accords  with  the  heroism  and  moral  earnestness  of 
those  ancestors,  who  so  appreciated  the  priceless  value  of  a  free 
country,  as  fearlessly  to  demand  it  of  a  tyrannical  king ;  and 
failing  to  obtain  the  boon  from  him,  sought  it  in  the  wilderness, 
which  their  self  sacrifice  has  converted  jnto  the  free  and  fruitful 
land  we  to-day  call  our  own. 

Never  can  we  extol  too  highly  the  deeds  of  our  fathers.  By 
whatever  names  our  families  are  known,  they  all  strike  their 
roots  into  the  same  rich  soil.  We  are  not  so  much  Coltons,  or 
Cooleys,  or  Keeps,  or  Blisses,  as  descendants  of  the  Puritans  ;  of 
the  lineage  and  household  of  men  who,  with  cruel  persecutions 
behind  them,  and  hardships  and  disasters  before  them,  erected 
here  altars  whose  fires,  after  two  and  a  half  centuries,  are 
to-day  burning  brightly  as  ever.  No  other  people  upon  this  round 
earth  have  a  richer  heritage  of  glorious  memories  and  inspiring 
examples,  than  we.  In  a  land  made  free  to  us  by  their  toil  and 
sacrifice,  with  moral  purposes  inherited  from  them  throbbing  in 
our  veins,  and  with  every  door  of  opportunity  wide  open,  we 
must  not, — cannot, — fail  to  complete  their  work.  When  the  next 
centennial  shall  come,  it  may  be  our  privilege  to  revisit  with 
them,  in  spirit,  these  scenes  of  their  and  our  toil  and  love.  If 
that  shall  be,  God  grant  that  we  may  then  discover  no  broken 
links  in  the  golden  chain  that  shall  bind  the  First  Puritan 
Century  with  the  Fourth,  in  rich  and  glad  prosperity. 
14 


io6 

The  President : — In  days  long  gone,  the  name  of  Keep  was  a 
familiar  one  to  the  Mother's  ear,  and  dear  also  to  her  heart.  She 
numbers,  indeed,  fewer  of  that  lineage  among  her  present  children, 
than  of  some  others ;  but  the  name  itself  is  not  therefore  less  dear  to 
her.  Any  reminiscences  connected  with  it  will  be  gratefully  received 
by  her  from  Rev.  John  R.  Keep  of  Hartford. 

REV.  MR.  KEEP'S  ADDRESS. 

There  are  but  few  of  the  Keep  name,  and  for  this  reason; 
the  usual  three  brothers  did  not  come  over,  but  only  a  single 
ancestor;  and  he  with  his  wife  and  infant  child  were  cut  off  by 
the  Indians.  The  line  had  to  commence  again,  which  it  did  in 
the  person  of  an  orphan  boy  of  six  years  old.  For  what  he  was 
— for  he  became  a  mighty  man  of  valor,  and  bore  the  name  of 
Ensign  Samuel  Keep — he  was  indebted  to  his  uncles,  Samuel 
Bliss  and  Joshua  Leonard,  under  whose  guidance  he  remained 
until  he  was  twenty-five  years  old.  And  what  did  he  do  then  ? 
Why,  he  married  Sarah  Colton,  and  thus  incorporated  into  his  line 
all  the  sterling  qualities  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Colton  has  so  vividly 
portrayed  in  his  ancestors.  Having  left  his  impress,  and  that  of 
all  the  Coltons  also,  upon  the  appropriate  number  of  Johns,  and 
Samuels,  and  Matthews,  and  Stephens,  not  to  mention  the 
daughters,  he  fell  on  sleep  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  and  his  mili- 
tary title  went  sacredly  upon  his  tombstone. 

A  son  of  Ensign  Samuel  was  my  father's  grandfather,  and 
the  father  of  my  great  uncle,  Rev.  John  Keep,  the  minister  of 
Sheffield.  Of  the  latter  I  will  say  a  few  words.  He  was  born 
in  1648,  and  graduated  at  Yale  in  the  class  of  1669  with  Dr. 
Dwight  and  Dr.  Strong  of  the  First  Church  in  Hartford ;  being 
the  first  Yale  graduate  from  Longmeadow.  He  was  a  man  of 
deep  piety,  and  was,  according  to  Dr.  West  of  Stockbridge,  a 
man  of  rare  pulpit  eloquence ; — "  the  finest  pulpit  orator  he  ever 
heard,"  are  Dr.  West's  words.  As  might  have  been  expected, 
he  was  the  resort  of  his  people  in  every  emergency.  The  fol- 
lowing will  suffice  as  an  example.  During  the  Revolutionary 
war,  when  the  post-riders  were  infrequent  in  their  journeys 
through  the  country,  the  post-rider  who  passed  through  Sheffield' 


107 

was  greatly  annoyed  by  the  hindrances  which  he  met  with  from 
one  woman,  who,  whatever  the  weather,  would  run  out  and  waylay 
him  with  the  demand  for  the  news.  Tired  of  the  interruption, 
he  at  length  determined  to  teach  her  a  lesson.  Accordingly, 
one  fierce  November  day,  out  she  comes  with  her  hair  and 
her  apron  streaming  in  the  wind,  and  laying  hold  of  the  post- 
rider  demanded  as  usual,  "  What's  the  news  ?  "  "  News  enough !" 
says  the  postman,  "  The  Indians  have  cut  through  the  great  lakes, 
and  we  are  all  going  to  be  drowned."  Without  stopping  to  get 
her  breath,  she  flies  to  the  minister,  Mr.  Keep,  and  rushes  in 
upon  his  studies,  exclaiming  in  her  sharpest  tones,  "  We  are  all 
going  to  be  drowned."  "  O,  no,  my  good  woman,"  said  the 
venerable  minister,  "we  have  the  promise  of  the  Lord  for  that." 
"  The  Lord  !  The  Lord's  nothing  to  do  with  it ; — it's  them 
plaguey  Indians."  At  the  early  age  of  thirty-six,  this  godly  man 
passed  to  his  reward.  His  older  brother,  my  grandfather,  lived 
to  be  eighty-four. 

In  the  next  generation,  Samuel  remained  a  farmer,  and  John 
became  a  minister.  He  is  within  the  remembrance  of  many  of 
you.  On  his  settlement  at  Blandford,  he  first  put  the  roads  in 
order,  then  he  rebuilt  the  school-houses,  then  set  the  people  an 
example  of  good  farming.  He  thus  gained  their  respect  and 
sympathy,  and  so  was  sure  of  a  willing  ear  when  he  spoke  to  them. 
He  made  his  wit  subservient  to  the  great  end  of  leading  men  to 
God.  He  was  reputed  to  be  an  excellent  judge  of  a  horse.  A 
man  came  to  him  one  day  to  get  his  judgment  respecting  a  horse 
which  he  wished  to  buy.  After  carefully  looking  him  over,  he 
observed  that  his  knees  were  strained  and  bruised.  "  Bruised 
knees  are  an  excellent  thing  in  a  minister,"  said  he,  "  but  I  should 
not  recommend  them  in  a  horse."  Later  in  life  he  went  west 
and  became  identified  with  the  institution  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  in 
whose  behalf  he  undertook  a  mission  to  England,  and  brought 
thence  thirty  thousand  pounds  as  the  fruits  of  his  solicitations. 

Of  my  brother,  Dr.  N.  C.  Keep,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say 
that  in  his  busy  professional  life,  and  amid  his  new  associates,  he 
never  forgot  his  early  home,  nor  ceased  to  feel  a  warm  interest 
in  the  town  and  in  all  connected  with  it. 


io8 

The  President : — It  is  remembered  by  the  Mother  as  one  of  the 
quaint  sayings  of  that  venerable  man,  Rev.  Dr.  Robbins  of  the  Hart- 
ford Antiquarian  Society — himself  apparently  its  greatest  antiquity — 
that  whenever  he-  met  a  Longmeadow  man  whose  name  he  could  not 
positively  recall,  he  always  first  addressed  him  as  Colton,  and  that  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten  it  proved  to  be  the  right  name. 

Will  Dr.  Frederick  Colton  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. — an  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews — respond  for  the  Colton,  and  any  other,  boys  of 'later  years. 

DR.  FREDERICK  COLTON 'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  President: 

Longmeadow  is  very  dear  to  me ;  I  am  proud  of  her  history, 
and  never  so  proud  as  to-day.  I  am  bound  to  her  by  the  living, 
and  by  those  who  sleep  among  her  dead.  My  arrangements  are 
never  made  to  revisit  the  old  place  but  I  feel  the  thrill  of  a 
boy's  anticipation  at  returning  home. 

As  soon  as  the  train,  sweeping  around  the  curve,  glides  upon 
the  long  meadow  stretch,  and  the  familiar  landmarks  are  one 
after  another  passed,  my  childhood  begins  to  come  back  with  a 
delightful  vividness.  Glancing  over  to  where  the  Goss  house 
used  to  stand,  opposite  the  station,  upon  the  river  bank,  my 
heart  beats  quicker ;  for  I  recall  how,  one  April  day  thirty-six 
years  ago,  a  little  fellow  with  pockets  bulging  with  base  balls 
and  hands  clutching  tightly  his  cap  lest  it  be  lost,  struggled 
hopelessly  in  the  swollen  river,  until  a  brave  man  of  the  town 
periled  his  own  life  and  saved  mine.  I  would  that  he,  the  old 
parish  sexton,  Mr.  Skinner  Coomes,  were  alive,  that  he  might 
know  how  gratefully  I  still  cherish  the  memory  of  his  heroic  deed. 

With  a  quaint  and  pleasing  voice  all  her  children  were  sum- 
moned "to  celebrate  in  song  and  thanksgiving  and  historic 
reminiscences  the  one  hundredth  birthday  of  the  town."  My 
own  recollections  stop  a  little  this  side  of  the  half-way  mile- 
stone, but  the  contrasts  between  then  and  now  are,  some  of  them, 
sufficiently  sharp. 

There  was  the  old  meeting-house,  with  its  high  pulpit  at  one 
end,  and  choir  at  the  other  sustained  by  the  base-viol,  violin,  and 
flute.  Earnest  exhortations  from  the  pulpit,  and  copious  drip- 
pings of  liquified  soot  from  long  spans  of  stovepipe,  furnished 


THE  MAJOR  LUTHER  COLTON  HOMESTEAD  AND  ELM. 


the  spiritual  and  material  droppings  of  the  sanctuary.  How 
delightfully  I  used  to  sleep  there,  if  only  I  could  get  to  my 
mother's  end  of  the  pew,  and  lay  my  head  on  her  friendly  lap. 
What  jolly  excursions  into  the  sanctuary  spire,  to  the  great 
dismay  of  the  swarming  bats,  when  we  boys  climbed  up  the 
winding  stairway  and  out  upon  the  balcony,  which  commanded 
that  rich  view  of  mountain  and  meadow,  and  quiet  river. 

How  eagerly  did  I  watch  for  the  crowing  of  the  gilded  cock 
— the  "  old  Probabilities  "  of  the  village,  before  weather  bureaus 
were  invented — assured  by  grayest  testimony  that  he  did  crow 
"every  time  he  heard  another  rooster  crow!" 

And  then  the  old  brick  school-house,  which  stood  near  by, 
since  gone  up  in  flames,  where  the  brace  of  elms  still  chant  their 
mournful  requiem.  Shall  the  boys  and  girls  of  my  day  ever 
forget  the  story  of  the  ant,  with  which  the  good  Parson  Tupper 
of  the  East  Parish  was  wont  to  point  the  lesson  of  perseverance  ? 
How  that  seventy  times  the  insect  attempted  to  climb  with  its 
burden  before  accomplishing  its  purpose, — which  was  only  a  few 
times  less  than  we  heard  the  story.  Shall  we  ever  forget  how 
we  used  to  be  got  ready  for  examination  by  reciting,  day  after 
day,  the  same  passages  of  English  history,  and  placing  the  same 
examples  on  the  black-board  ?  And  when  the  great  day  came, 
how  delighted  our  fathers  and  mothers  were  with  our  astonish- 
ing proficiency;  until,  one  luckless  day,  a  new  minister  came  into 
town  and  into  the  school — he  seems  almost  as  young  to-day,  so 
lightly  do  the  years  rest  upon  him — and  after  we  had  been  put 
through  our  parrot-like  performances  as  usual,  took  the  question- 
ing into  his  own  hands.  How  dumb  as  oysters  we  suddenly 
became !  I  think  I  can  still  hear  the  melodious  strains  which 
the  master,  in  shirt  sleeves,  used  to  squeeze  out  of  a  mammoth 
accordion,  to  the  tune  of  "Oft  in  the  Stilly  Night;"  or  those 
which  oftener  came  from  some  recalcitrant  scholar  under  the 
infliction  of  his  ruler. 

Ah,  those  were  the  days  of  the  ferule  code,  the  thrashings, 
the  dunce  cap,  standing  on  one  foot,  holding  the  arm  extended 
at  a  horizontal,  or  bending  the  body  forward  until  the  =  hand 
touched  the  floor,  with  an  occasional  stroke — but  I  will  not 
dwell  longer  upon  these  tender  recollections !  And  of  the 


no 

"select  schools"  which  followed  these  juvenile  experiences; 
how  gratefully  the  honored  names  of  Goldthwait  and  Lawton 
are  remembered  by  those  who  enjoyed  their  instructions. 

Those,  too,  were  the  days  when,  on  Saturday  night,  I  wished 
the  western  mountains  were  deep  valleys,  that  the  sun,  going 
down,  might  not  so  soon  interrupt  my  sport ;  and  on  Sunday 
night,  that  the.  valleys  were  high  mountains  that  the  Sabbath 
rigor  might  sooner  end. 

Not  unknown  then,  too,  were  the  tavern  and  the  toddy- 
stick;  the  horse-racings,  foot-racings,  and  turkey-shootings, 
which,  with  their  accompaniments,  lowered  the  morals  and 
cheapened  the  social  values  of  our  community. 

Who  will  say  that  the  former  days  were  better  than  these  ? 
Look  at  yonder  beautiful  house  of  worship,  evolved  as  it  were 
from  the  old,  and  none  more  attractive  in  any  village  of  the 
Connecticut  valley.  Fire  devoured  the  old  brick  school -house  ; 
but  out  of  the  flames  came  a  better  one,  and  a  new  enthusiasm 
which  put  educational  facilities  on  a  higher  plane.  The  best 
of  teachers  came,  who  used  a  kindlier  discipline.  Higher 
studies  were  introduced ;  and  I  have  never  ceased  to  appreciate 
my  opportunity  to  get  so  far  on  in  college  preparation  that  one 
year  more  at  Andover  made  it  complete. 

It  may  be  that  the  pendulum  is  swinging  too  far  from  the  rigid 
Sunday  observances  of  the  olden  time ;  but  sure  I  am  that  the 
day  has  been  brought  into  greater  harmony  with  the  declaration 
"The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man." 

In  addition  to  the  venerable  "  Benevolent  Society,"  dating 
back  in  its  origin  to  Pastor  Williams,  you  have  your  "  May 
Breakfast "  and  Christmas  festivals  ;  your  "  Village  Improvement 
Society,"  and  your  "  T.  T.  T."  clubs ;  all  so  conducive  to  good 
fellowship  among  the  citizens,  and  to  an  enviable  reputation 
among  the  surrounding  communities. 

But  I  will  not  "  extend  my  remarks,"  only  to  say  that  these 
days  seem  to  me  much  better  than  the  former ;  and  to  express 
the  hope  that,  when  the  great-grandchildren  of  this  generation 
shall  gather  under  these  elms  to  celebrate  the  next  centennial, 
it  may  be  not  far  from  the  gateway  of  the  millenium. 


Ill 

After  a  brief  interlude  by  the  band,  the  President  said  : 

With  a  very  tender  partiality  the  Mother  looks  upon  the  children  of 
her  old  age.  Some  bring  it  as  a  reproach  against  her  that  these  younger 
children  pull  so  stoutly  and  successfully  away  from  her  apron  strings; 
and  that  her  own  attractions  seem  to  have  so  little  power  to  detain 
them  at  home.  She  herself,  however,  secure  in  her  own  conviction  of 
their  loyalty,  bids  them  ever  a  hearty  Godspeed  when  they  go,  and  as 
hearty  a  welcome  whenever,  as  this  day,  they  return.  Will  the  Rev. 
William  W.  Leete  of  Ridgefield,  Conn. — under  strictest  seal  of  the 
confessional — indulge  a  Mother's  affection  with  reminiscences  of  his 
own, — or  his  comrade's — boyish  days. 

REV.  MR.  LEETE'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

This  festal  day  is  one  of  especial  significance  and  sugges- 
tiveness  to  me.  Elder  John  White,  my  ancestor  upon  my 
mother's  side,  and  Governor  William  Leete  of  Connecticut,  upon 
my  father's  side,  from  each  of  whom  I  am  eight  generations 
removed,  died,  both  of  them  by  a  singular  coincidence,  in  1683, 
just  two  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  not  likely  that  I  should  be 
called  upon  to  stand  here  except  through  my  connection  with 
the  first  of  these  names.  My  mother  was  born  here.  This 
ground  was  probably  not  unfamiliar  to  the  Elder  John.  With 
that  little  company  of  one  hundred  he  came  under  Thomas 
Hooker  through  the  wilderness  to  Hartford,  and  passed  through 
your  borders.  Again  and  again  he  must  have  traveled  on  your 
roads  as  he  went  to  found  Old  Hadley,  and  returned  to  spend  his 
last  days  as  Elder  of  the  South  Church  in  Hartford. 

And  I  may  fittingly  mention  my  other  ancestor,  Governor 
Leete,  to  plead  his  example  as  an  excuse  from  following  exactly 
the  line  of  thought  which  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  have  proposed  to 
me.  You  have  intimated  that  I  might  present  some  reminis- 
cences of  the  nature  of  a  confession  of  my  own  boyish  sins  and 
those  of  my  companions  here.  Permit  me,  rather,  to  draw  from 
the  example  of  my  ancestor  from  Connecticut  a  lesson  of 
reticence,  at  least,  if  not  of  charitable  oblivion,  for  any  such 
youthful  peccadilloes  of  ours  as  you  seem  to  suspect. 


112 

When  the  ambassadors  from  the  Court  of  England  came,  on 
the  accession  of  Charles  II,  to  search  in  this  country  for  three 
men  who  had  signed  the  death  warrant  of  Charles  I,  they  visited 
New  Haven  and  Guilford.  Coming  to  Governor  Leete  they 
desired  him  to  assist  them  in  seizing  at  once  the  transgressors 
whom  they  had  reason  to  believe  were  hidden  in  his  neighborhood. 
The  day  was  the  Sabbath,  and  the  Governor's  answer  was  that 
he  could  not  offend  against  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day  by 
engaging  in  a  hunt  for  regicides.  I  wish  that  you  would  be  so 
kind  to-day  as  to  call  the  misdemeanors  of  us  young  children, 
regicides.  They  were  no  doubt  unjustifiable,  and  there  ought  to 
be  a  reckoning  for  them  ;  but  we  would  not  disturb  the  serenity 
of  this  your  holy  day  in  seeking  them  out.  If  these  things 
must  be  revealed,  let  it  be  before  a  smaller  company,  where 
we  should  be  less  embarrassed  and  also  probably  more  truthful. 

But  in  regard  to  all  else  concerning  the  life  of  Longmeadow's 
younger  children,  I  am  glad  to  speak.  Many  of  their  faces  have 
brightened  the  exercises  of  this  hour,  and  their  quick  hands  min- 
istered to  your  wants  at  the  noon  season.  Another  company 
must  also  be  remembered,  for  I  am  sure  they  think  of  us  to-day. 
How  gladly  would  we  take  their  hands  in  the  midst  of  our 
festivities  !  They  are  absent  only  because  they  cannot  be  here. 
But  how  attractive  is  Longmeadow  to  them  still.  Away  in  dis- 
tant homes,  at  school,  journeying,  or  pursuing  the  life  work 
of  their  various  avocations — they  pause  to  think  awhile  of  the 
Mother's  birth-day.  Nor  can  we  leave  out  in  our  computation 
a  smaller  company,  and  yet  select,  numbering  in  it  some  of  the 
brightest,  happiest  of  us  all,  whom  God  spared  but  too  short  a 
time  in  this  earthly  home,  and  whose  departure  started  the 
tears  which  have  not  yet  ceased  flowing. 

The  impressions  which  the  present  generation  have  of  Long- 
meadow  are  of  the  pleasantest  kind.  I  do  not  here  refer  to  those 
impressions  which  quick  justice  sometimes  saw  fit  to  give.  They 
were  duly  painful  at  the  time  and  called  forth  often  loud  lamen- 
tations. But  their  trace  has  long  since  passed  away,  and 
in  spite  of  these  chastisements  it  would  be  hard  for  us  to  find 
a  place  in  which  our  life  could  have  been  happier. 


"3 

We  are  persuaded,  moreover,  that  this  is  a  good  place  in  which 
to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  successful  future.  Great  men  have 
often  been  born  in  small  places.  As  our  thought  roams  over  the 
past  centuries,  we  see  how,  from  one  place  and  another,  small  in 
wealth  and  fame,  have  sprung  the  men  who  have  stood  in 
the  front  ranks  of  the  theological,  literary,  political,  and  business 
world.  Augustine,  greatest  of  the  four  renowned  fathers  of  the 
Latin  Church,  came  from  Tagasta,  a  minor  town  in  Numidia. 
Anselm,  the  scholastic  philosopher  of  the  eleventh  century,  sprung 
from  Aosta  at  the  foot  of  St.  Bernard.  Jonathan  Edwards,  our 
New  England  theologian,  whose  voice  was  heard  in  the  Long- 
meadow  pulpit  during  the  great  revival  of  1735-40,  passed  his 
early  years  a  few  miles  below  us  at  East  Windsor.  Shakespeare 
was  christened  in  the  little  town  of  Stratford-on-Avon.  Burns 
was  born  in  the  hamlet  of  Alloway  in  Ayrshire,  the  son  of  a 
peasant  farmer  of  the  humblest  class.  The  republic  is  proud  to 
tell  of  those  who,  like  Abraham  Lincoln  and  James  A.  Garfield, 
have  risen  to  its  highest  honors  from  rural  homes. 

It  may  seem  out  of  place  to  make  such  allusions,  since  none 
of  us  have  attained  to  any  great  celebrity.  But  it  is  fair  to  con- 
sider the  favorable  conditions  of  our  past  and  the  possibilities, 
at  least,  of  our  unknown  future.  How  appropriate  this  broad 
and  sunny  green  and  these  overhanging  elms,  for  the  early  home 
of  such  a  man  as  Tennyson  sings. 

"  Whose  life  in  low  estate  began 

And  on  a  simple  village  green. 

Who  makes  by  force  his  merit  known, 

And  lives  to  clutch  the  golden  keys 

To  mould  a  mighty  State's  decrees, 

And  shape  the  whisper  of  the  throne." 

But  if  few  great  things  can  be  reported  of  the  later  children  of 
this  village,  it  is  fitting  to  say,  that  as  far  as  I  know,  not  a  single 
one  of  the  number  has  become  openly  vicious  and  depraved. 

One  noticeable  peculiarity  of  our  venerable  Mother's  house- 
hold is  the  mutual  interest  here  felt  by  one  child  for  another. 
The  village  is  like  one  large  family.     There  is  a  freedom  allowed, 
15 


114 

and  an  interchange  of  social  greeting  which  would  be  impossible 
except  in  a  place  as  united  and  homogeneous  as  this. 

It  has  been  my  privilege,  within  the  last  few  hours,  to  con- 
verse with  one  of  the  older  daughters  attending  the  anniversary. 
While  others  were  recalling  names,  a  certain  gentleman  who 
once  lived  here  was  mentioned,  and  she  remarked,  "  I  knew  him 
very  well  ;  I  was  quite  fond  of  him,  and  I  think  he  liked  me." 
This  did  not  seem  so  strange  ;  but  when  several  others  were 
named,  and  she  seemed  to  be  equally  fond  of  them  all  and  they 
as  fond  of  her,  it  led  me  to  wonder  whether  social  life  was  in 
those  days,  in  this  respect,  at  all  peculiar.  A  moment's  reflec- 
tion explained  the  matter.  It  was  then  even  as  now.  The  young 
people  of  Longmeadow  to-day  are  attached  to  each  other  as  the 
children  of  different  families  seldom  are.  To  be  sure  the  affinity 
becomes,  in  particular  cases,  so  close  that  union  becomes  inevit- 
able ;  and  this,  I  suppose,  was  just  the  same  long  ago.  But  aside 
from  these  special  cases,  the  esteem  in  which  each  holds  the  rest 
is  something  remarkable,  and  for  this  the  younger  children  are 
thankful. 

I  would  gladly  speak  did  the  time  allow  of  our  physical  sports 
and  recreations.  What  games  we  have  had  on  this  spacious 
green  !  What  long  expeditions  into  the  fields  and  wood  for 
berries  and  nuts  !  What  enjoyable  excursions  to  the  river  and 
ponds  for  fishing  or  bathing  !  And  how  helpful  all  these  to  the 
muscular  life  of  a  boy  ! 

Our  thoughts,  also,  turn  fondly  to  the  intellectual  and  religious 
element  in  our  early  lives.  Longmeadow  would  not  be  the  Long- 
meadow  of  to-day  without  this  venerable  church.  Around  it  has 
clustered  the  happiest  associations,  from  it  has  emanated  the  spirit 
which  has  purified  and  beautified  the  social  condition  of  this 
village.  Here  where  you  now  sit  stood  the  old  church  ;  its 
slender  and  graceful  spire,  capped  by  the  exultant  rooster,  of 
whose  size  we  heard  fabulous  stories,  and  within  whose  body  we 
conjectured  all  sorts  of  strange  things  were  hidden.  And  high 
as  that  bird  was,  even  beyond  the  reach  of  the  arrows  which 
we  shot,  and  the  stones  which  we  threw,  so  high  and  shining 
was  the  ideal  of  Christian  excellence  preached  within  the  walls, 


set  before  us  by  the  pastor  whom  we  loved  and  the  teachers  in  the 
Sunday-school  as  the  worthy  object  of  our  life's  endeavor. 

There  are  many  thoughts  of  interest  to  which  I  might  allude  ; 
some  tales,  which,  if  unfolded,  could  create  almost  as  much  com- 
motion, as  that  which  the  ghost  could  have  told  to  Hamlet.  But 
I,  like  the  ghost,  will  be  considerate. 

You  have  alluded,  Mr.  President,  to  the  fact  that  the  boys 
go  away  from  Longmeadow.  But  you  cannot  wish  to  keep 
us  all.  There  is  a  plant  growing  by  your  roadside,  which 
all  the  summer  time  is  storing  up  seeds  and  fastening  to 
them  the  softest  and  most  delicate  wings.  Then  when  the 
frosts  have  come,  and  the  fields  are  golden  with  autumn 
glories — the  seeds  fly  away,  and  borne  on  the  zephyrs  or  the 
storms  they  pass  far  beyond  the  house-lot,  and  the  township,  and 
resting  at  last,  repeat  in  a  new  soil  with  the  coming  spring  the 
same  story  of  life  and  growth.  If  we  who  go  forth  are  as  true 
to  your  nurture  as  these  humble  plants,  we  shall  but  be,  to  your 
lasting  honor,  reproducing  in  other  States  and  lands  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  place  in  which  we  had  our  training. 

We,  who  are  the  young,  have  been  asked  to-day  to  listen  to 
the  things  which  have  been  done  in  the  days  of  old.  We  have 
heard  with  abundant  pleasure  what  has  been  told  us,  and  the 
Mother  never  seemed  so  worthy,  to  us,  as  she  does  to-day. 
But  I  am  sure  we  have  a  higher  purpose  in  this  celebration  than 
merely  to  review  the  past,  and  to  develop  a  wide  self-consciousness. 
Our  poet  singing  beautifully  has  also  expressed  the  prayer — 

"  That  the  new  century 
Break  not  the  olden  charm." 

As  the  good  Mother  has  rested  her  hand.s  upon  our  heads  in 
welcome  and  in  blessing,  she  has  turned  her  ear  to  catch  from  us 
some  word  of  promise.  TJie  younger  children  speaking  through 
me  would  utter  it.  '  Your  future  fame  and  glory  rests  with  us. 
And  as  the  day  is  closing,  and  ere  we  say  good  bye,  we  make  the 
pledges  to  preserve  as  best  we  can,  in  time  to  come,  that  ancient 
and  honorable  name  for  sterling  character,  pure  society,  and 
enlightened  faith,  which  has  crowned  this  good  old  town  through 
all  her  departed  years.' 


u6 

The  President :  As  the  Austrian  Empire  is  said  to  owe  more  of 
its  standing  among  the  nations  to  the  matrimonial  alliances  of  its 
royal  daughters,  than  to  its  arms,  so  has  Mother  Longmeadow  through 
many  a  daughter's  plighted  affections  wedded  herself  to  fame  and 
fortune.  Will  the  Rev.  Dorus  Clark,  D.D.,  of  Boston,£speak  of  Long- 
meadow  as  a  mother-in-law  ? 

REV.  DR.  CLARK'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  President: 

In  obedience  to  your  call  upon  "the  sons-in-law"  of  Long- 
meadow,  allow  me  to  say,  that  the  first  time  I  saw  this  town  was 
in  the  year  1822.  I  had  occasion  to  go  from  Springfield  to  En- 
field,  and  "  must  needs  pass  through  "  Longmeadow.  The  Rev. 
John  Wheeler,  afterwards  President  of  the  University  of  Ver- 
mont, then  preaching  here  as  a  candidate  for  settlement,  was 
boarding  with  Capt.  Burt,  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Medlicott.  I  called  -to  pay  him  my  fraternal  respects,  as  we  had 
been  well  acquainted  at  Andover,  and,  after  a  little  conversation, 
he  said  that  his  preparatory  lecture  was  appointed  that  after- 
noon, and  that  it  would  be  a  great  favor  if  I  would  stop  and 
preach  it.  I  did  so ;  and,  after  the  service,  as  we  were  saunter- 
ing up  and  down  this  beautiful  street,  talking  over  Andover  mat- 
ters, he  suddenly  turned  the  conversation  into  another  channel 
by  saying,  "  Brother  Clark,  have  you  got  a  wife  in  training  yet  ? " 
I  told  him  that  I  had  been  impervious  to  the  attacks  of  Cupid 
unto  that  day.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  there  are  a  dozen  young  ladies 
here,  all  of  them  well  educated  and  qualified  to  be  ministers' 
wives,  and  I  advise  you  to  look  around."  I  replied  that  my  time 
would  not  suffice  to  call  on  a  dozen,  but  if  he  could  narrow  the 
case  to  a  single  individual,  and  that  the  right  one,  I  might  be 
open  to  conviction.  "  Well,"  he  replied,  "  here  she  is ;  right 
here  "  (we  were  then  passing  by  Mr.  Bliss'  door).  "  I  know  her 
well ;  she  is  just  the  right  one."  You  know  that  Davy  Crockett 
used  to  say,  "  Be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go  ahead."  My  friend 
was  sure  that  he  was  right,  went  ahead,  and  introduced  me  to  a 
young  lady,  who,  within  two  years,  became  my  wife,  and  contin- 
ued my  beloved  wife  fifty-four  years.  Since  her  translation  I 
have  been  a  lone  wanderer.  If  sainted  spirits  are  permitted  to 


visit  this  world,  she  is  here  to-day,  for  she  was  deeply  interested 
in  everything  which  concerned  Longmeadow.  She  had  a  fer- 
vent love  for  the  old  church,  which  stood  on  precisely  the  spot 
we  now  occupy ;  and,  if  possible,  a  warmer  regard  for  the  confer- 
ence-room in  the  attic  of  the  old  brick  school-house  hard  by, 
where  the  beams  and  the  rafters  were  visible,  and  where  large 
audiences  were  often  densely  "  compacted  together."  Sometimes 
a  "  Bochim,"  where  the  young  people  poured  out  their  tears  over 
their  sins  ;  and  sometimes  the  "  land  of  Beulah,"  whence  they 
could  see  the  "  Delectable  Mountains,"  and,  further  on,  the  super- 
nal radiance  of  the  "Celestial  City." 

Her  brother,  the  Hon.  Gad  Olcott  Bliss,  was  some  five  years 
younger  than  herself.  When  I  first  knew  him,  he  was  a  stout 
boy,  somewhat  rough  and  brusque  in  his  manners,  and  very 
willing  to  have  his  own  way.  He  became  interested  in  a  young 
lady  in  this  village,  who  was  five  years  his  senior.  The  Hon. 
Patrick  Boies  of  Westfield,  who  knew  the  parties  well,  celebrated 
that  event  in  heroic  verse.  One  stanza  ran  on  this  wise : 

"  Bliss  Olcott  Gad,  while  yet  a  lad, 
Love  did  possess  him  wholly  ; 
And  under  age  he  did  engage 
To  marry  Harriet  Cooley." 

That  early  marriage  was  a  benison  to  him.  Harriet  Cooley 
saved  him,  and  she  made  him ;  and  though  he  stood  at  the  head 
of  his  family  and  governed  it,  as  by  God's  ordination  every  hus- 
band should  do,  yet  after  all  she  governed  him,  and  very  suc- 
cessfully too,  because  she  did  it  so  cautiously,  kindly,  deftly, 
Christianly,  and  because  she  had  good  sense  enough  never  to  tell 
him  of  it,  and  he  never  found  it  out. 

Mr.  Bliss  was  a  highly  respected  and  useful  citizen.  He  was 
a  man  of  affairs,  and  often  employed  to  write  deeds,  execute 
wills,  settle  estates,  —  the  untitled  "Longmeadow  lawyer." 
He  was  a  Director  of  the  Chicopee  Bank,  and  at  one  time  a 
Senator  of  the  Commonwealth.  Now,  I  hold  that  a  young  lady 
who  can  do  what  Harriet  Cooley  did  ;  who  can  save  a  young 
man,  make  him  a  man,  and  "  govern "  him  when  he  needs  it, 
deserves  to  be  canonized.  And,  if  the  young  ladies  in  this  great 
assembly  intend  to  "govern"  their  husbands,  when  they  get 


them, — and  some  husbands  need  a  good  deal  of  "government," — 
I  hope  they  will  do  it  after  the  fashion  of  Harriet  Cooley. 

Longmeadow  has  never  been  distinguished  for  lawyers. 
When  Peter  the  Great  was  in  London  and  he  saw  the  law  lords 
in  their  bag  wigs  coming  out  of  Westminster  Hall,  he  asked 
"  who  those  fellows  were."  Being  told  that  they  were  lawyers, 
he  exclaimed,  "  What !  Lawyers  !  What  do  they  need  so  many 
lawyers  here  for  ?  I  have  only  two  in  Russia,  and  I  mean  to 
hang  them  as  soon  as  I  get  home."  I  do  not  know  that  Long- 
meadow  people  have  ever  hung  a  lawyer,  but  they  have  starved 
them  all  out  of  the  town  ! 

Longmeadow  is  much  noted  for  her  religious  activity.  She 
has  raised  up  a  large  number  of  eminent  clergymen,  and  quali- 
fied not  a  few  young  ladies  to  become  the  worthy  wives  of  cler- 
gymen. She  has  sent  out  her  sons  to  "  teach  the  deaf  to  hear 
and  the  dumb  to  speak."  She  has  furnished  wives  for  several 
foreign  missionaries, — Mrs.  Calhoun,  Mrs.  Schauffler,  Mrs.  Tem- 
ple, Mrs.  McQueen,  Mrs.  Garner, — names  lustrous  in  the  annals 
of  Missions. 

Of  that  memorable  "  dozen "  of  young  ladies  who  were  here 
when  I  first  knew  Longmeadow,  only  one  I  believe,  Miss  Eunice 
C.  Storrs,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  sixty  years,  now  survives. 
She  is  widely  known,  and  as  widely  beloved,  respected,  and  hon- 
ored. I  regret  her  inability  to  be  with  us  here  to-day,  and  my 
fervent  prayer  for  her  is,  if  I  may  adopt  the  old  Roman  suppli- 
cation, Serus  in  ccelum  redeas. 

Upon  the  tomb  of  John  Howard,  the  English  philanthropist, 
•in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London,  you  will  find  this  inscription : 
"He  trod  an  open,  but  unfrequented,  path  to  Immortality" 
Longmeadow  has  done  herself  the   credit,  and  the  world   the 
benefit,  of  sending  forth  many  of  her  sons  and  daughters,  east, 
west,  north,  and  south,  on  multiform  pursuits  of  usefulness  ;  and 
they  have  trodden  the  "  open,"  and  yet  comparatively  "  unfre- 
quented paths  to  Immortality." 

Mr.  President,  I  have  nothing  but  benedictions,  of  the  most 
heartfelt  character,  to  pronounce  upon  Longmeadow. 


The  last  of  the  series  of  After-Dinner  Addresses  was  given  by 
Judge  William  S.  Shurtleff  of  the  Probate  Court  of  Hampden 
County,  in  reponse  to  the  following  introduction  by  the  President : 

In  her  Urban  neighbor  on  the  north,  Mother  Longmeadow  recog- 
nizes not  so  much  a  mother  to  herself,  as,  rather,  an  elder  sister,  under 
whose  legal  guardianship  she  passed  the  years  of  her  minority.  The 
period  of  that  guardianship  was  one  of  sisterly  affection,  and  of  due 
respect  and  subordination  on  the  younger  sister's  part ;  and  the  sub- 
sequent years  have  been  fruitful  of  mutual  harmony  and  happiness. 
Whether  the  guardian's  final  account  has  ever  been  rendered,  the 
Mother  is  not  wholly  sure.  If  not,  surely  no  extension  of  time 
beyond  a  century  can  reasonably  be  asked. 

Will  Judge  Shurtleff  of  Springfield,  respond  for  the  guardian  her- 
self. 

JUDGE    SHURTLEFF'S   ADDRESS. 

I  regret  to  begin  what  I  have  to  say  to  you  with  the  correction 
of  an  error  which  the  President  of  the  Day  has  made,  in  stating 
that  Springfield  has  been  used  to  regard  Longmeadow  less  as  a 
daughter  than  as  a  ward,  and  that  Longmeadow  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  consider  Springfield  rather  as  its  guardian  than  as  its 
parent. 

As  far.  as  Springfield  is  concerned  this  is  not  so  ;  for  she  has 
never  ceased  to  regard  Longmeadow  as  a  part  of  herself.  Inter- 
meddlers  have  drawn  a  geographical  line  between  the  two 
sections  of  the  old  town,  but  no  barrier  has  ever  been  estab- 
lished between  the  people.  We  do  not  recognize  your  right  to 
a  separate  social  existence  from  us,  nor  do  we  admit  the  validity 
of  any  decree  that  excludes  us  from  co-socialty  with  you.  Nor 
are  we  of  old  Springfield,  a  different  people.  New  comers, 
during  the  past  century,  have  crowded  in  upon  us,  bearing  names 
strange  to  the  old  lists  ;  but  we  have  still,  as  you  have,  the 
Blisses,  the  Coltons,  the  Elys,  the  Williamses,  and  certainly  more 
Storr(e)s  than  you  have.  The  Act  of  the  "  General  Court"  did 
not  sever  the  ties  of  family  relationship  ;  and,  I  repeat,  despite 
the  invisible  geographical  line  of  separation,  we  are  still  of  .you, 
and  you  are  still  of  us,  and  we  are  of  each  other.  I  am 
of  you,  anyhow,  and  I  shall  adhere.  Besides,  I  claim  kin- 


I2O 

ship  with  the  most  vaunted,  perhaps,  of  your  noted  families  — 
the  Williams  family — for  William  's  my  front  name  ! 

But,  suppose  it  were  true  that  Springfield  has  been,  as  your 
President  claims,  the  guardian  of  Longmeadow — he  is  unwise  in 
calling  for  a  guardianship  account.  I  should  not  have  thought 
of  bringing  up  such  an  unpleasant  matter  at  a  festivity  like  this  ; 
but  now  that  the  demand  has  been  made  upon  me,  "  officially," 
and  in  a  manner  that  implies  that  Springfield  is  a  delinquent,  I 
am  bound  to  state  the  case  as  it  actually  is  ;  unfavorable  as  it  may 
be  to  the  so-called  "ward"  of  Springfield. 

The  fact  is,  that  a  hundred  years  ago,  Longmeadow  ran  away 
from  home,  and  took  with  her  the  fairest  possessions  and  many  of 
the  best  of  the  tenantry  of  Springfield,  and  set  up  for  herself 
upon  the  richest  of  the  outlying  lands.  Not,  I  admit,  like  a 
prodigal,  but  like  a  provident  child ;  for  she  was  then,  as  now, 
shrewd  and  thrift-sighted  ;  and,  perceiving  that  the  increase  of 
family,  the  requirements  of  fashionable  life,  and  the  demands  of 
enterprise  at  the  old  homestead  would  soon  make  the  contribu- 
tions levied  upon  individual  pockets  onerous,  she  said,  "  Go  to  ! 
I  will  get  from  under.  Let  there  be  drawn  between  us  a  line  that 
shall  be  called  a  town  line,  so  that  it  may  be  lawfully  said  :  '  Thus 
far  shall  the  tax  assessors  of  Springfield  come,  and  no  further  ;"' 
And,  carelessly  and  improvidently,  Springfield  suffered  such  a 
line  to  be  drawn  ;  and,  ever  since,  northward  of  it  there  has 
been  grimace,  and  southward  of  it  smiling,  as  the  tax-gatherers 
have  made  their  annual  rounds.  And  so  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  Springfield  has  been  paying  anywhere  from  $ioto  $18  per 
$1,000,  while  Longmeadow  has  paid  from  $4  to  $8  per  $1,000 
taxes,  for  a  century. 

And  yet,  Longmeadow  has  enjoyed  all  for  which  Springfield 
has  thus  paid  !  We  have  paved  our  streets  and  hardened  our 
roads  to  save  the  wheels  which  rolled  your  garnered  harvests 
to  our  eager  market ;  we  have  called,  by  our  allurements,  thou- 
sands of  customers  for  your  productions,  and  have  built  school- 
houses,  churches,  theatres,  hospitals,  court-houses,  and  bridges 
for  their  accommodation,  that  they  might  content  themselves 
to  stay  within  reach  of  your  thrifty  grangers,  and  you  haven't 
paid  one  dollar  toward  the  expense  of  all  this.  Therefore,  the 


121 

account  of  guardianship,  as  I  must  render  it,  in  justice  to 
Springfield,  shows  a  balance  against  the  "ward"  of — well,  the 
arrears  of  taxes  for  a  hundred  years  — say  the  difference  between 
what  you  have  paid,  and  what  you  would  have  paid  but  for  that 
thrifty  dodge  beyond  that  town  line !  A  little  arithmetic  will 
give  you  the  exact  sum  due. 

But,  Springfield  forgives  the  debt.  You  have  given  her  more 
than  an  equivalent.  You  have  more  than  repaid  her  by  the  gen- 
erous hospitality  that  you  have  shown  to  her  through  all  these 
years,  even  to  the  present  day.  You  have  given  and  are  giving 
her  lessons  in  the  etiquette  of  the  heart  and  in  the  esthetics  of 
sociality,  not  alone  on  public  occasions  like  your  May  Breakfasts 
and  to-day's  Fete,  but  in  the  private  welcomes  to  your  individual 
homes,  that  are  educating  her  to  a  better,  more  hearty, — the 
good  old-fashioned  social  life.  We  are  quits;  or  rather  we  are,  in 
all  save  pecuniary  matters,  your  debtors.  Give  us  time,  and  a 
little  longer  good  example,  and  we  will  try  to  get  even  on  that 
score. 

I  am  proud  to  respond  for  Springfield  to-day,  although  I  must 
know  that  I  have  been  called  upon  as  its  representative  only 
because  those  who  are  more  representative  than  I,  are  not  at  this 
late  hour  in  attendance  ;  and  speaking  for  Springfield,  I  have  to 
tell  you  what  is  her  feeling  for  you.  I  shall  ask  my  own  heart 
to  prompt  me,  but  I  feel  sure  that  what  it  shall  suggest  to  me, 
the  hearts  of  all  of  old  Springfield,  at  least,  will  confirm. 

There  is  an  Old  and  a  New  Springfield, — the  Old,  made  up  of 
the  descendants  of  ancestors  who  were  fellow-townsmen  with 
yours, — the  New,  composed  of  later-comers  and  the  children  of 
later-comers,  all  strangers  to  the  old  times.  Old  Springfield  has 
for  you  the  love  of  the.  olden  time.  New  Springfield  admires 
you,  and  wonders  at  you  a  little.  Both  delight  to  visit  you.  Only 
the  bad  Springfield, —  and  with  such  a  numerous  and  mixed 
population  we  necessarily  must  have  some  bad  un-Longmeadow- 
ish  people  among  us  —  only  the  bad  Springfield  is  not  attached 
to  you.  They  find  it  lonely  when  they  come  here.  When  we 
want  to  impress  our  visitors,  we  drive  them  down  here  and  don't 
let  on  about  the  town  line,  and  they  say,  "  What  a  lovely  place 
Springfield  is,  to  be  sure  ! " 
16 


122 

Your  historian  said,  to-day,  as  he  modestly  closed  his  chroni- 
cle at  the  opening  of  the  present  era,  "We  will  not  praise 
ourselves,  but  let  our  eulogy  be  left  to  the  next  centennial  cele- 
brators."  I  cannot  delay  so  long.  I  must  say  now  for  myself, 
that  I  regard  Longmeadow  as  exceptional  in  the  world  —  my 
world.  It  reminds  me,  most,  of  one  of  those  delightful  quiet 
English  villages  in  interior  England,  away  from  the  great  mer- 
cantile or  manufacturing  cities,  wherein  for  generations  old  fam- 
ilies have  dwelt  on  broad,  fair  lands,  surrounded  by  an  industrious 
peaceful,  happy  peasantry ;  where  for  generations  have  been 
wealth,  culture  and  comfort  undisturbed.  Longmeadow  and  its 
people,  to  me,  are  just  what  New  England  and  New  Englanders 
were  intended  to  be,  and  should  be ; — the  Old  English  culture, 
comfort,  and  repose,  with  the  New  England  independence. 

For  interior  and  surrounding  beauty  it  is  unexcelled.  For  the 
culture  of  its  people  it  has  always  been  and  is  remarkable  and 
remarked  upon.  For  honest  thriftiness  it  has  been,  and  is,  notable 
and  noted  ;  and  for  its  morality  it  has  been,  since  I  have  known  it, 
unequaled.  A  single  term  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Hampden 
County  would  have  easily  disposed  of  all  the  cases  of  crime  com- 
mitted within  its  limits  for  a  century.  Rarely  have  its  domestic 
dissensions  troubled  the  divorce  courts,  and  I  think  fewer  law 
suits  have  found  entry  upon  the  dockets  of  civil  tribunals  from 
here,  than  from  any  town  of  its  population  in  the  county.  In  the 
position  which  I  have  held  for  more  than  twenty  years,  I  have 
had  occasion  to  note  and  have  noted  this.  Surely  I  may  be 
permitted  on  such  an  occasion  as  this  to  say,  that  in  administer- 
ing the  affairs  of  my  court,  I  have  been  accustomed  to  expect 
integrity  from  those  who  have  come  to  me  from  among  you  to 
settle  their  accounts  as  administrators.,  executors,  guardians, 
and  trustees,  and  I  have  not  been  disappointed.  There  have 
been  men  among  you  who  are  now  in  honored  graves,  whose 
names  you  will  recall  without  my  mentioning  them,  who  have  so 
impressed  me  that  I  have  come  to  consider  a  Longmeadow  name 
as  a  synonym  for  rectitude ;  and  there  are  others  now  among  you 
charged  with  affairs  with  which  I  have  to  deal,  who  are  filling 
the  places  of  their  predecessors,  and  winning  the  same  measure 
of  esteem.- 


123 

As  I  have  listened  to  the  history  of  your — of  our  town  to-day, 
and  to  the  words  of  the  speakers  who  have  given  utterance  to  so 
much  genuine  enthusiastic  appreciation  of  their  old  home ; — as 
I  have  heard  of  your  prosperity  in  the  past ; — as  I  have  seen 
your  happiness  and  prosperity  in  the  present,  I  have  sought  the 
causes  :  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  your  past  and  present 
enviable  condition  is  due  —  first,  to  the  foundation  laid  by  the 
sturdy  Christian  fathers — second,  to  the  after  culture  you  have 
so  sedulously  sought  and  found,  —  and  third,  but  less  in  import- 
ance only  to  the  first,  —  for  to  the  first  is  most  indebted  for  its 
prosperity  not  only  your  town  but  every  town,  city,  state  in  the 
Republic  and  the  Republic  itself,  —  to  the  fact,  that  you  have 
always  been,  and  are,  an  independent  people  in  your  individual- 
ities. 

You  are  composed  of  three  classes;  —  agriculturists,  inde- 
pendent because  they  can  produce  upon  their  own  glebes  all  that 
is  essential  for  their  support ;  —  laborers  upon  your  farm  lands 
and  in  your  quarries,  independent  because  by  their  own  indus- 
try they  are  able  to  be  self-providing ; — men  of  wealth,  who  hav- 
ing acquired  or  inherited  ample  means  have  remained,  or  come, 
here  to  enjoy  the  ease  that  competence  affords  ; —  independent 
because  they  have  enough.  What  is  more  conducive  to  happi- 
ness, and  to  moral,  intellectual,  and  social  prosperity,  than  such 
independence  ? 

Here,  many  in  elegant,  all  in  comfortable  homes,  self-support- 
ing, drawing  only  upon  your  own  resources,  preserving  the  old 
traditions,  and  respectful  of  the  old  moralities,  in  a  location  so 
delightful  that  no  other  tempts  you  away,  you  have  dwelt  and 
dwell,  a  peculiar  people,  religious,  cultured,  independent  Why 
should  you  not  continue  to  be  prosperous  and  happy  ? 

I  suppose  that  mine  is  the  closing  speech  of  the  day — for  I 
believe  that  your  programme  is  concluded — and  therefore  I  may 
without  presumption  venture  upon  lay  dene-diction.  Nearly  all, 
perhaps  all,  of  the  "visitors  "  have  gone.  We  are  a  family  party  ; 
and  I  want  to  say,  what  some  one  ought  to  say,  that  the  day  has 
been  a  perfect  success.  It  has  been  a  most  delightful  one  to  me, 
—  a  day  of  inspiration  that  I  would  not  have  missed  for  a  hundred 


124, 

ordinary  days  of  life.  The  exercises  have  interested  me  deeply. 
The  Address  of  Welcome  was  a  prose  poem,  inspired  by  the  truest 
appreciation  of  the  poetry  of  the  occasion,  and  of  the  heart  and 
soul  feast  to  which  it  called  us.  The  Historical  Address  was  such 
as  the  racy,  reverend  predecessors  of  the  racier  and  not  less 
reverend  historian  would  have  vied,  if  they  could  have  listened 
with  us,  in  applauding ; — perhaps  they  did  !  The  poet's  heart  sang 
first  the  verses  that  his  lips  have  repeated  to-day.  Truth  has  been 
eloquent  by  the  mouths  of  the  sons  and  daughters  who  came  to 
tell  of  their  respect,  pride,  and  love  for  the  "  Old  Mother,"  who 
had  called  them  to  the  old  home  once  more.  The  Collation  was 
perfect!  It.  would  "go  without  saying"  that  a  Longmeadow 
Collation  would  be  perfect;  but  both  gratitude  and  history  bid 
me  say  it,  nevertheless*.  Everything  up  to  the  time  when  your 
President  required  you  to  listen  to  me  has  been  just  right, — 
refreshing  alike  the  body,  brain,  and  heart  of  every  one  present. 
Evidently  all  came  gladly,  have  remained  gladly,  and  will  go 
away  reluctantly ;  bettered  by  the  influences  which  have  here 
met  them.  Would  that  such  occasions,  in  such  places,  among 
such  people,  might  oftener  come  to  give  us  restful  pause  in  these 
too  restless  days ! 

I  congratulate  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  ; — I  congratu- 
late their  beneficiaries ; — most  of  all,  I  congratulate  myself  for 
having  been  here.  Up  to  last  midnight  I  had  thought  it  impos- 
sible to  be  present ;  but  then  the  presentiment  of  regret  was  so 
strong  that  I  determined  to  make  it  possible,  and  I  did.  When 
I  was  informed  that  I  might  be  called  upon  for  a  speech,  I  felt  a 
natural  reluctance  and  embarrassment,  and  would  have  been 
glad  to  have  been  excused ;  but  now,  I  thank  you  for  permitting 
me  to  say  what  I  should  be  sorry  to  have  left  unsaid.  Again  I 
congratulate  you  all.  I  do  not  congratulate  the  "  Old  Mother  " 
upon  having  reached  her  one  hundredth  birthday,  but  upon  hav- 
ing lived  one  hundred  years  so  worthily ;  and  the  best  wish  I 
can  leave  with  her  is,  that  at  her  next  Centennial  she  shall 
exhibit  no  change  in  feature  or  in  heart.  For  her  to  change 
would  be  to  deteriorate.  And  you,  fellow  townsmen,  keep  just 
as  you  are — Puritans — with  all  the  modern  improvements. 


125 


CONCLUDING    EXERCISES. 

The  hour  for  bringing  the  exercises  to  a  close  had  now  unmis- 
takably arrived.  The  chill  of  an  October  afternoon  was  begin- 
ning to  steal  into  the  tent,  which  had  been  wholly  comfortable 
during  the  day. 

Gathering  more  closely  together,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
President,  and  clasping  hands  with  each  other  as  they  conveni- 
ently could,  the  audience  and  the  band  united  in  the  good  old 
parting  hymn  and  tune  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  as  given  upon  the 
programme. 

AULD  LANG  SYNE. 


Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot, 
And  never  brought  to  mind  ? 

Should  auld  acqaintance  be  forgot, 
And  days  of  auld  lang  syne  ? 


And  here's  a  hand,  my  trusty  friend, 

And  gie's  a  hand  o'  thine  ; 
And  we'll  take  a  right  guid  parting  grasp 

For  auld  lang  syne. 


CHORUS. 

For  auld  lang  syne,  my  dear, 

For  auld  lang  syne, 
And  we'll  take  a  right  guid  parting  grasp 

For  auld  lang  syne. 

The  Doxology  in  long  meter  was  then  sung,  after  which  the 
Benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  Mr.  Harding,  and  the  cen- 
tennial services  were  ended. 


A  social  gathering  of  the  young  people  of  the  town  enlivened 
the  tent  early  in  the  evening ;  and  finally,  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  band,  resolved  itself  into  an  impromptu  serenade  of  distin- 
guished guests  in  various  homes.  Later,  the  music  died  away ; 
one  by  one  the  village  lights  went  out ;  and  the  full  moon  alone 
looked  down,  only  upon  a  ghostly  tent,  with  a  solitary  sentinel 
watching  for  the  dawn  of  THE  NEW  CENTURY. 


APPENDIX. 


A.— CELEBRATION  PRELIMINARIES. 

The  earliest  efficient  action  of  the  town  in  regard  to  a  Centennial 
Celebration  was  taken  by  a  vote  of  the  Town  Meeting,  April  3,  1882, 
adding  to  the  Committee  of  Inquiry — previously  appointed  and  con- 
sisting of  Rev.  John  W.  Harding,  David  Booth,  R.  S.  Storrs,  Edwin 
Indicott,  and  Oliver  Wolcott — the  Selectmen,  ex  qfficio,  Charles  S. 
Newell,  Abel  H.  Calkins,  and  Edward  H.  Tabor ;  and  constituting 
the  whole  a  permanent  Committee  of  Preparation,  with  an  appropria- 
tion of  $50  to  meet  its  incidental  expenses.  The  following  year  a 
further  appropriation  of  $900  was  made  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
celebration  and  of  the  subsequent  publication  of  the  proceedings ; 
and  Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  was  designated  as 
Orator  of  the  Day. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  Committee  of  Preparation  in  June  following — 
changed  in  its  personnel  only  by  the  election,  meantime,  of  a  new 
Board  of  Selectmen,  J.  C.  Porter,  Henry  Hall,  and  J.  A.  McKinstry 
— the  resignation  of  Mr.  Booth,  on  account  of  the  infirmities  of 
advancing  years,  was  reluctantly  accepted,  and  the  vacancy  was  filled 
by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  John  McFethries.  Mr.  Harding  was 
chosen  Chairman,  and  Mr.  Storrs  Secretary,  of  the  Committee. 

At  subsequent  meetings  of  the  Committee,  Rev.  Mr.  Harding  was 
unanimously  chosen  as  Orator  of  the  Day,  in  place  of  Dr.  Storrs, 
whose  engagements  had  compelled  him  to  decline  the  service ;  the 
Secretary  of  the  Committee,  Mr.  Storrs,  was  chosen  President  of  the 
Day ;  and  a  special  Committee  of  Preparations  was  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  McFethries,  Porter,  Hall,  and  McKinstry,  with  the 
following  ladies — Mrs.  Brinton  P.  Allen,  Mrs.  Roman  A.  Crane,  Mrs. 
John  Hooker,  Mrs.  Edwin  Indicott,  and  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Newell; 
Chas.  S.  Newell  and  William  B.  Medlicott  were  chosen  as  a  Committee 
on  Music ;  Ethan  C.  Ely  was  appointed  Chief  Marshal  of  the  Day, 
17 


128 

with  five  Assistant  Marshals  from  each  part  of  the  town,  viz.,  J.  M. 
Butt,  William  Eaton,  Nelson  Lombard,  J.  C.  Pease,  and  Edgar  Sellew, 
from  the  East  part,  and  Sylvester  Bliss,  Stephen  Colton,  Thomas  F. 
Cordis,  Sumner  W.  Gates,  and  William  C.  Pease  from  the  West  part 
of  the  town.  Mr.  Storrs  was  chosen  Committee  upon  Invitations  and 
Programmes. 

Important  assistance  was  rendered  to  the  Committee  on  Invitations 
by  several  persons,  especially  by  Mrs.  G.  McQueen  in  superintending 
their  distribution.  The  method  adopted  was  to  request,  by  public 
notice  from  the  pulpits,  that  all  families  should  send  in  to  the  Com- 
mittee names  of  their  personal  friends,  and  also  of  non-residents 
without  resident  kindred.  The  memoranda  thus  obtained  were  col- 
lated and  catalogued  by  Mrs.  McQueen,  as  the  basis  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  invitations. 

The  varied  and  arduous  duties  of  the  sub-Committee  of  Preparation 
were  still  further  subdivided  and  assigned  among  its  own  members 
and  invited  helpers,  to  whose  cordial  co-operation  they  were  greatly 
indebted.  To  the  almost  ubiquitous  presence  and  untiring  zeal  and 
energy  of  the  Chairman  of  this  Committee,  Mr.  McFethries,  should 
be  attributed  in  large  measure  the  success  which  crowned  its  efforts. 

Each  family  in  town  was  invited  to  contribute  cake  for  the  celebra- 
tion, the  cheerful  response  to  which  suggestion  brought  to  the  colla- 
tion tent  more  than  three  hundred  loaves.  Some  of  the  other  items 
of  supplies  were  400  Ibs.  of  beef,  ham,  and  tongue,  4,000  rolls,  50  Ibs. 
of  butter,  1,500  crullers,  50  Ibs.  of  coffee,  70  Ibs.  of  sugar,  5  barrels 
of  pears,  300  Ibs.  of  grapes,  etc. 

The  seating  capacity  of  the  tent,  accurately  estimated,  was  more 
than  twenty-three  hundred ;  and,  making  due  allowance  for  those  who 
took  their  refreshments  in  the  collation  tent,  the  number  of  persons 
dined  can  fall  little  short  of  twenty-five  hundred.  It  was  only  the 
exact  order  and  rapid  succession  in  which  the  various  items  of  supply 
followed  each  other  in  the  systematized  service  of  the  waiters,  which 
rendered  it  possible  to  supply  the  wants  of  so  large  a  number  so  satis- 
factorily and  in  so  short  a  time. 

Doubtless,  also,  the  experience  of  the  villagers  in  their  annual 
May  Breakfast  Festivals  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  had  assisted  in 
preparing  them  for  this  occasion.  Cheerful  and  experienced  co-opera- 
tion was  here,  as  always,  the  secret  of  success. 


129 

B.— PRESS  NOTICES. 

Editorial,  Springfield  Republican,  Oct.  18,  1883. 

The  Longmeadow  centennial,  yesterday,  was  one  of  those  occasions 
that  should  be  precious  to  every  Yankee,  because  in  them  the  undi- 
minished  fire  and  force  of  New  England  is  shown.  It  is  not  in  the 
cities  any  longer  that  the  noble  God-fearing  and  self-respecting  com- 
munity of  the  fathers  of  the  nation  is  to  be  seen, — it  is  in  the  country 
towns,  where  every  man  of  foreign  birth  or  foreign  tradition  who  is 
present  must  either  merge  his  antecedents  in  the  prevailing  sentiment 
and  be  thenceforward  a  whole-souled  American, — or  stay  without  and 
curse  the  place  with  a  hateful  alienism.  This  country  is  yet  New 
England, — it  is  better  than  the  old  England,  and  infinitely  better  than 
any  amalgamation  of  European  peasantry  can  make  her.  The  life  of 
the  land  is  shown  in  such  truly  representative  gatherings  as  this 
centennial  brought  forth. 

From  the  Springfield  Republican,  Oct.  18. 

The  centennial  celebration  of  Longmeadow,  yesterday,  was  one  of  the  rare 
occasions  whose  excellences  far  surpass  their  prefatory  promise  ;  for  noth- 
ing of  the  sort  was  ever  more  modestly  heralded,  and  assuredly  nothing  of 
the  sort  was  more  rich,  satisfying,  and  complete.  Almost  everything  from 
dawn  till  dusk  was  characteristic  of  New  England — old  New  England  ;  the 
brass-band,  which  certainly  would  have  been  thought  rather  elaborate  a 
hundred  years  ago,  was  after  all  a  legitimate  successor  of  the  fife  and  drum  ; 
and  as  for  the  tents,  they  date  farther  back,  even  to  the  red  men  themselves, 
for  their  local  nativity.  The  golden  weather  of  brave  October,  though  most 
of  the  trees  are  bare,  inspired  every  friend  of  the  old  town  with  a  heartiness 
and  courage  that  at  least  might  sympathize,  though  it  might  not  be  com- 
pared, with  the  spirit  of  the  fathers.  The  green  was  early  alive  with  gath- 
ering sons  and  daughters,  and  through  the  greater  part  of  the  day  they 
continued  to  come.  The  scene  of  the  village  green  was  indeed  festal.  The 
tents, — the  big  marquee  for  the  speaking,  and  the  smaller  one  where  the 
collation  was  prepared,  with  their  passages  and  entrances, — were  surrounded 
with  groups  of  young  and  old  in  various  disposal,  and  down  the  eastern  road 
for  a  furlong  the  horses  and  buggies  of  the  visitors  made  along  row,  as  if  some 
great  church  affair  had  taken  place,  as  in  the  old  times,  whereto  all  the  clergy 
and  the  deacons  of  the  settlements  for  sixty  miles  around  had  come.  The 
grave-yard  fence  was  lined  without  by  horses  gravely  contemplating  the  stone 
memorials  of  the  founders  of  Longmeadow,  and  through  the  green  and  in 
the  several  yards  other  horses  stood.  The  trains  brought  their  scores,  and 
the  town  itself  represented  fully  all  that  it  was  in  the  audience  of  the  tent. 


130 

The  occasion  was  pure  New  England,  and  that  only,  from  first  to  last.  The 
elms,  that  had  strewn  most  of  their  leaves  for  carpet  on  the  green,  rose  in 
air  loftily  with  their  enduring  Benedicite,  and  the  old  houses  that  are  still 
numerous  along  the  broad  street  bore  witness  to  the  historic  dignity  of  the 
town. 

There  was  every  arrangement  made  that  could  be  for  the  comfort  of  the 
visitors,  men  ready  to  take  care  of  horses,  guides  ready  to  show  the  way  to 
any  place,  and  the  most  good-natured  and  genial  of  Aids  of  the  day  to  keep 
the  world  still  and  orderly.  The  long  and  generous  open  green  ;  the  houses 
alongside  that  confide  themselves  so  unreservedly  to  the  public  by  taking 
away  their  fences,  opening  so  a  noble  democratic  park  throughout  the  vil- 
lage ;  the  church  with  its  hospitable  doors,  and  the  social  hall  so  well  known 
to  all  May  breakfasters  ;  everything  beneath  the  benignant  brightness  of  the 
sky  and  in  the  brisk  and  bracing  air  breathed  the  welcome  that  the  speakers 
uttered. 

The  celebration  in  the  tent  began  with  perfect  fitness  for  a  New  England 
gathering  by  the  singing  of  the  doxology.  It  was  led  ably  by  the  principal 
singers  of  the  village  choir,  though  not  lined  off  as  once  hymns  used  to  be, 
or  started  with  the  pitch-pipe's  toot.  All  the  singing  was  led  in  the  same 
way,  although  the  audience  were  not  all  sure  of  their  cue,  and  came  in  very 
assiduously  in  the  interlude  by  the  band,  with  the  first  lines  of  the  succeed- 
ing stanza.  But  there  was  good,  hearty  singing,  for  all  that.  After  this 
praise  to  God,  nowhere  more  consonant  than  in  religious  Longmeadow, — 
came  a  seasonable  reading  from  the  Bible  by  Rev.  A.  I.  Button  of  the  East 
village ;  then  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Wolcott,  pastor  of  the  church  more  than  a 
generation  ago,  offered  prayer,  and  a  hymn  of  Dr.  Wolcott's  writing  was 
sung. 

The  tent,  that  held  over  2,000  persons,  was'  filled,  every  seat  and  much  of 
its  standing-room,  and  with  solid  New  England,  the  best  illustration  of 
democracy  in  the  world.  The  speaker's  platform  was  on  the  east  side,  and 
filled  with  men  and  women  of  consequence.  There  -were  present  Prof. 
Edwards  A.  Park  of  Andover ;  Rev.  Dr.  Dorus  Clarke,  that  veteran  of  Con- 
gregationalism ;  the  eloquent  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  Rev. 
Aaron  M.  Colton,  formerly  pastor  in  Easthampton  ;  that  noble  and  venera- 
ble woman,  descendant  of  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  wife  of  the  lamented 
missionary,  Rev.  W.  G.  Schauffler,  and  partner  in  his  labors  in  Turkey  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  Wolcott  of  Cleveland  (but  soon  to  be  again  of  Longmeadow) ; 
Rev.  Dr.  S.  G.  Buckingham,  Rev.  L.  H.  Cone,  and  Rev.  Charles  Van  Nor- 
den  of  this  city;  Rev.  Hubbard  Beebe  of  New  York,  another  former 
pastor ;  Rev.  W.  E.  Park  of  Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  son  of  the  Andover  pro- 
fessor •,  Rev.  Dr.  Russell  of  Hofcrook ;  W.  R.  Sessions  of  Hampden,  and 
others.  Among  the  large  group  of  octogenarians  now  living  in  Longmeadow 
and  only  recently  thinned  by  the  deaths  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eliazer  Wil- 
liams Storrs,  aged  81  and  83,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Colton,  84  and  83,  are 


still  living  Miss  Eunice  C.  Storrs,  only  surviving  child  of  Pastor  Storrs,  aged 
82 ;  Mrs.  Cyrus  Newell,  94 ;  Dr.  George  Hooker,  90  ;  Mrs.  Wareham  Col- 
ton,  86 ;  David  Booth,  86,  with  his  sister,  Mrs.  Margaret  Bartlett,  83,  from 
Coleville,  Ohio,  several  of  whom  occupied  prominent  places  on  the  plat- 
form. Among  other  notable  lady  guests  on  the  platform  were  Mrs.  Prof. 
B.  B.  Edwards,  of  Andover,  a  granddaughter  of  Pastor  Storrs,  with  her 
younger  sisters  Mrs.  Prof.  Mead  of  Oberlin,  and  Miss  Billings,  her  daugh- 
ter Rev.  Mrs.  Park  of  Gloversville,  and  several  other  lineal  descendants  of 
Pastors  Williams  and  Storrs,  to  whom,  as  will  be  seen,  Prof.  Park  paid  his 
particular  respects  in  his  after-dinner  speech.  The  pastor  of  the  church 
to-day,  Rev.  Mr.  Harding,  and  the  president  of  the  day,  Prof.  R.  S.  Storrs  of 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum  at  Hartford,  were  the  foremost  ornaments  of  the 
first  session  of  the  day ;  and  no  two  men  could  better  have  accomplished 
their  public  service. 

Opposite  the  speakers  hung  a  large  placard  bearing  an  inscription  ;  above 
in  the  center  the  date  "  1644,"  beneath  that  "Welcome  !  "  and  flanking  the 
welcome  on  either  side  the  dates,  "  1783,"  "  1883."  It  was  facing  this  pla- 
card that  President  Storrs,  himself  a  grandson  of  the  second  minister  of 
Longmeadow  and  a  cousin  of  Rev.  Dr.  Storrs  of  Brooklyn — both  of  them 
bearing  the  full  name  of  their  common  ancestor — uttered  his  most  poetic 
address  of  welcome  given  by  Longmeadow  to  her  children.  The  address  is 
given  elsewhere  in  full;  and  our  readers  will  notice  how  naturally  it  runs 
into  rhythmic  melody,  and  how  finely  poetic  its  thought  and  phrase  is 
throughout.  It  was  in  fact  a  gem  of  oratory,  and  was  delivered  with  such 
grace  of  gesture  and  such  fervor  of  utterance  as  rendered 'it  doubly  admir- 
able. The  ease  of  Prof.  Storrs'  delivery  reminds  us  to  say  that  without 
doubt  it  is  largely  due  to  his  long  experience  as  a  teacher  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  in  the  Hartford  asylum ;  for  in  that  work  not  a  few  notable  orators 
have  been  trained.  His  speaking  was  followed  by  the  singing  of  a  hymn 
he  had  written  for  the  occasion,  to  the  familiar  "  Missionary  chant"  and 
thereupon  came  the  principal  particular  of  the  day,  the  centennial  address 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Harding. 

Mr.  Storrs,  with  that  happy  facility  of  speech  and  fitness  of  illustration 
which  characterized  his  chairmanship  throughout  the  festival,  introduced 
the  orator  of  the  day  as  "The  Reverend  John  Williams  Harding, — a  lineal 
descendant  in  spirit,  if  there  ever  was  one,  of  the  Reverend  John  Williams 
of  Deerfield."  Then  the  pastor  of  Longmeadow  for  a  third  of  a  century 
stood  forth  to  tell  his  townsmen,  the  returning  children  of  the  town,  and  all 
its  friendly  visitors  besides,  of  the  history  of  the  Longmeadow.  Mr.  Hard- 
ing did  not  need  an  introduction  to  his,  hearers, — or  certainly  to  very  few  of 
them, — nor  does  he  need  an  introduction  to  the  Republican's  readers,  who 
have  known  him' so  long  and  so  well.  He  stood  on  that  platform  a  rare 
embodiment  of  the  best  qualities  of  the  old  New  England  ministry, — the 
friend,  counselor,  and  teacher  of  the  whole  community,  no  less  in  his  life 


132 

than  in  the  pulpit,  and  his  address  caught  all  the  salient  features  of  their 
notable  and  representative  history,  presenting  them  in  an  address  which, 
though  covering  two  hours,  was  so  excellent  in  material,  so  judiciously 
wrought,  so  artistically  broken  at  the  right  points  by  freshening  humor,  so 
finely  informed  with  the  central  idea  of  illustrating  the  township  basis  of  our 
republic,  and  so  eloquently  rounded  with  eulogy  of  the  New  England  char- 
acter,— that  no  hearer  was  wearied,  but  all  were  delighted  to  the  very  end. 
Mr.  Harding's  clear  and  resonant  voice,  his  unlabored  but  effective  rhetoric, 
his  cordial  glance  and  entire  appreciation  of  the  points  of  his  discourse, — all 
won  to  him  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  Long  though  it  was,  they  would  have 
been  glad  to  hear  him  still  longer. 

The  collation  immediately  followed  Mr.  Harding's  address,  while  music 
by  Little's  band  of  this  city  enlivened  the  moments,  as  it  had  done  at  inter- 
vals before,  besides  their  accompaniment  of  the  singing.  The  band  in  their 
red  coats  and  with  their  gleaming  brasses  furnished  the  note  of  color  in  the 
tent  that  way,  as  well  as  in  their  performance,  which  was  always  very  good 
and  much  enjoyed.  The  collation  was  as  perfectly  managed  as  anything 
could  be.  The  visitors  were  not  invited  to  scramble  for  food  at  long  tables, 
but  the  towns-people  themselves  provided  the  most  attentive  and  gentle  of 
waiters,  who  brought  the  thousands  their  food  as  they  sat  on  their  seats, 
and  fed  them  generously  and  well.  The  occasion  was  one  of  a  hundred  at 
least,  for  this  one  thing — the  perfect  skill,  tact,  and  readiness  with  which  its 
participants  were  refreshed.  This  eating  time  was  also  a  season  of  social 
reunion  ;  seats  were  left  and  friends  hunted  up,  and  a  delightful  interchange 
of  pleasant  comment  and  remembrance  went  on  while  the  band  played  and 
the  people  ate.  After  a  while  the  players  upon  instruments  likewise  ate, 
and  nobody  noticed  that  the  music  had  stopped,  they  were  so  busy  talking. 
The  old  grave-yard  was  visited,  where  Parson  Stephen  Williams'  mortal 
dust  reposes  beneath  a  monumental  table,  -and  the  spacious  green  was  ram- 
bled over;  people  went  to  see  the  parsonage,  the  Storrs'  house,  and  Mr. 
Cordis'  noble  two-year-old  colt ;  and  so  they  were  ready  when  tattoo  was 
beat,  and  the  tentful  came  to  order  to  listen  to  the  charming  poem  of  W.  E. 
Boies,  with  whom  also  the  Republican's  readers  are  well  acquainted.  The 
poet  delivered  his  fluent  verses  in  an  excellent  fashion,  with  spirit  and  force. 

The  post-prandial  flood-gates  now  were  open,  and  a  great  many  speakers 
worth  hearing  were  announced  by  President  Storrs.  The  first  was  Rev. 
Aaron  M.  Colton,  one  of  the  numerous  Colton  family  of  Longmeadow,  as 
he  proceeded  to  inform  the  audience  in  one  of  the  wittiest  of  disquisitions 
on  family  characteristics ;  which,  if  reported  ever  so  faithfully,  would  lose 
much  from  default  of  the  rich  humoristic  appreciation  of  the  speaker  him- 
self. There  was  much  laughter  among  the  audience  while  this  went  on, — 
and  a  good  deal  of  it  might  be  presumed  to  have  come  from  where  knots  of 
Coltons  were  gathered,  for  the  name  is  numerous  in  Longmeadow  still. 
The  next  speaker  strongly  contrasted  Mr.  Colton,  for  the  aged  Mrs, 


133 

Schauffler  came  forward  to  say  a  special  word  that  was  borne  in  upon  her 
mind.  Her  tall,  slender,  venerable  figure,  her  fine,  serious,  intellectual  face, 
with  deep,  vivid  eyes  beneath  a  crinkled  wave  of  white  hair,  won  instant 
admiration,  which  her  affectionate  address  of  mingled  reminiscence  and 
missionary  appeal  soon  deepened  into  loving  respect.  Woman  was  cer- 
tainly worthily  represented  upon  the  Longmeadow  platform. 

Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Salter  Storrs  of  Brooklyn,  grandson  and  namesake  of 
the  second  Longmeadow  pastor,  was  next  introduced.  Dr.  Storrs  makes  a 
strong  figure  on  the  platform.  Good  height,  broad  chest,  sturdy  limbs,  large 
and  shapely  head,  a  healthy,  ruddy  complexion,  a  swift  and  keen  though  not 
large  gray  eye,  side-whiskers,  and  a  magnificent  manner, — these  equip  one 
of  the  great  orators  of  our  day.  The  first  and  indeed  the  largest  part  of  his 
speech  was  devoted  to  that  ministerial  story-telling  which  is  the  perfection 
of  the  art.  No  other  sort  of  men  can  tell  so  many  and  so  good  stories  and 
with  so  adept  a  skill,  as  ministers, — and  Dr.  Storrs  did  credit  to  the  profes- 
sion. But  from  this  pleasant  persiflage  Dr.  Storrs  launched  into  a  stream 
of  splendid  eloquence  concerning  Longmeadow, — the  typical  New  England 
village,  and  the  influences  which  have  made  it  such,  ....  closing  with  a 
glowing  eulogy  on  the  excellences  of  the  town  as  a  select  and  favored  refuge. 

That  eminent  pillar  of  old  New  England  orthodoxy,  Edwards  A.  Park,  so 
long  professor  at  Andover  Seminary,  was  next  introduced  by  President 
Storrs  with  the  observation  that  Rev.  John  Williams,  father  of  Rev.  Stephen, 
was  educated  wholly  by  the  liberality  of  William  Park  of  Roxbury,  whence 
it  appeared  that  the  entire  culture  of  the  Williams  family,  so  far  as  Long- 
meadow  was  concerned,  was  due  to  a  Park.  Prof.  Park's  address  was  a 
second  notable  example  of  the  clerical  penchant  for  anecdotes.  The  memo- 
rabilia which  he  uttered  in  that  short  speech  of  his  would  set  up  a  corps  of 
story-tellers  for  a  week,  and  he  ought  to  jot  down  and  publish  his  store  of 

such  delightful  contes The  speaker  told  many  stories  with  brilliant 

ability,  but  with  an  unmoved  face, — looking  with  his  spare,  clean-shaven 
face,  strong,  thin  jaw,  and  sunken  blue  eyes, — the  incarnation  of  Edwardsian 
logic,  severity,  and  purity.  He  closed  with  a  fit  eulogy  on  the  New  England 
ministry. 

There  were  many  interesting  speakers  as  the  afternoon  went  on, — Rev. 
Charles  R.  Bliss,  Rev.  Dr.  Wolcott  (who,  it  is  understood,  is  soon  to  become 
a  resident  of  the  village),  Rev.  W.  W.  Leete  of  Ridgefiekl,  Conn.,  and 
others  ;  but  the  waning  hours  prevented  the  calling  up  of  all  who  had  been 
announced The  speech  of  Judge  W.  S.  Shurtleff,  as  the  representa- 
tive of  Springfield,  the  mother  of  "  Mother  Longmeadow  "  herself,  concluded 
the  abundant  but  not  for  a  moment  tedious  exercises  of  the  centennial  day. 
They  ended  with  a  singing  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  with  a  slightly  adapted 
version  of  Burns.  In  the  evening  the  young  people  held  a  reception  in  the 
big  tent  for  a  general  jollification,  and  had  a  very  pleasant  time.  Long- 
meadow  from  first  to  last  did  herself  thorough  credit. 


134 

[From  the  Springfield  Daily  Union,  Oct.  17,  1883.] 

If,  when  last  August  the  day  was  finally  fixed  for  Longmeadow's  Centen- 
nial Celebration,  the  rare  beauty  of  last  week  Wednesday  could  have  been 
foreseen,  doubtless  it  would  have  been  selected  as  the  day,  despite  the  more 
exact  coincidence  of  the  i7th,  with  the  governor's  signature  to  the  act  of 
town  incorporation  in  1783.  Any  one  who,  on  that  Wednesday  of  almost 
oppressive  beauty  and  mildness,  had  driven  through  Longmeadow  street, 
and  especially  through  its  meadow  bright  with  a  thousand  tints  of  brilliant 
or  mellow  beauty,  could  have  hardly  imagined  the  change  which  two  days 
of  rain  and  wind  would  make  in  all  that  beauty.  Yet,  though  less  beautiful 
to  the  eye  on  this  the  centennial  day  than  a  week  earlier,  Longmeadow's 
welcome  to  the  hosts  of  incoming  guests  has  been  no  whit  less  warm.  The 
bright  October  skies  and  the  crisp  bracing  air  were  favorable  for  comfort 
and  enjoyment,  and  old  Mother  Longmeadow  is  to  be  congratulated  upon 
the  propitious  weather  for  this  centennial  occasion.  From  east  and  west, 
from  north  and  south,  by  team,  by  train,  by  bicycles,  and  on  foot,  the 
townsmen  and  guests  of  the  day  poured  into  the  place  till  it  almost 
seemed  as  if  even  the  broad  street  itself,  extending  from  Pecowsic  to 
Enfield,  would  be  too  strait  for  their  accommodation.  The  tent  pitched  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  public  exercises  stood  on  historic  ground,  occu- 
pying the  site  where  for  so  long  stood  the  village  church.  Near  by  is  the 
church  with  the  pastor's  study  filled  with  historical  relics,  the  Storrs  home- 
stead, a  century  old,  with  furniture  that  has  been  in  use  for  200  years, 
choice  and  dainty  china,  etc.,  and  on  either  side  the  hospitable  homes  of 
the  descendants  of  the  men  and  women  who  wrested  Longmeadow  from  the 
primeval  forest  and  have  made  it  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  typical  of 
New  England  villages. 

And  right  here  it  should  be  said  that  the  town  of  Longmeadow  is  a  most 
illustrious  and  conspicuous  example  of  the  permanent  influence  of  com- 
manding personal  character.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  men  who  have 
been  the  pastors  of  the  village  church.  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  son  of 
Rev.  John  Williams,  of  Deerfield,  and  himself  carried  into  Canada  as  a  cap- 
tive, was  the  first  pastor,  and  went  in  and  out  before  the  people  from  1715 
to  1782.  A  graduate  of  Harvard,  Parson  Williams  represented  the  best 
New  England  culture  of  that  time,  and  his  infinite  patience,  wisdom,  and 
tact  in  the  instruction  and  management  of  his  parish  rendered  his  formative 
influence  in  that  community  important  and  indelible.  The  diary  of  Parson 
Williams  is  a  wonderful  revelation  of  the  force  of  his  character  and  depth  of 
his  spiritual  life,  and  is  a  rich  mine  of  historical  fact  and  incident.  Next  to 
him  came  Rev.  Richard  Salter  Storrs,  a  graduate  of  Yale  and  the  husband 
of  Parson  Williams's  granddaughter.  His  pastorate  extended  from  1 785  to 
1819,  and  strengthened  and  deepened  the  influence  of  his  honored  predeces- 
sor, and  gave  the  town  an  anchorage  in  solid  character  from  which  it  has 
never  departed  nor  sought  to  depart.  From  1820  to  1850  there  were 


135 

four  short  but  quite  distinguished  pastorates,  those  of  Rev.  Baxter  Dickin- 
son of  Amherst,  Rev.  Jonathan  B.  Condit  of  Hanover,  N.  H.,  Rev.  Hubbard 
Beebe,  now  living  in  New  York,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Wolcott,  now  of 
Cleveland,  O.  Messrs.  Dickinson  and  Condit  were  called  from  Longmeadow 
to  fill  professors'  chairs.  Rev.  Mr.  Harding's  pastorate,  begun  in  1850,  has 
flowed  on  in  unruffled  serenity  for  thirty-four  years,  and  strengthens  in  use- 
fulness and  promise  as  the  years  advance.  Mr.  Harding  has  thoroughly 
identified  himself  with  the  town  in  all  its  interests,  and  in  courtesy  and  tact 
has  shown  himself  a  worthy  successor  of  the  first  pastor  of  the  village. 
The  tent  pitched  on  the  green  in  front  of  the  church  was  furnished  with 
settees  and  chairs  in  sufficient  abundance  to  amply,  accommodate  the  2,000 
people  or  more  who  listened  to  the  speaking  with  took  place  from  a  raised 
platform  at  the  east  side.  On  the  side  of  the  tent  directly  opposite  the 
speakers'  stand  stood  forth  in  bold  letters  and  figures  the  inscription 

1644. 

1783.  WELCOME.  1883.. 

The  large  audience  was  a  striking  one,  and  listened  most  attentively 
throughout  to  catch  every  word  of  the  speakers,  —  the  old  people 
especially  who  occupied  seats  in  close  proximity  to  the  speakers'  platform. 
The  faces  of  many  Springfield  people  could  be  discerned  sprinkled  about 
through  the  large  audience,  among  others  Rev.  Mr.  Simons  of  the  Florence 
street  church,  Judge  W.  S.  Shurtleff,  Rev.  Dr.  Rice,  and  Maj.  Ingersoll. 
Managing  Editor  Hubbard  of  the  Hartford  Courant  also  occupied  a  seat 
in  the  audience.  The  forenoon  exercises  were  of  great  interest  and  excel- 
lence, and  are  reported  elsewhere.  The  afternoon  was  devoted  to  speeches 
of  reminiscence  and  congratulation  ;  but  the  time  was  far  too  short  for  all 
there  was  to  be  said.  President  Storrs,  personating  Mother  Longmeadow 
in  his  address  of  welcome,  called  up  Rev.  Dr.  A.  M.  Colton  of  Easthampton 
to  speak  for  the  numerous  family  to  which  he  belongs,  and  right  wittily 
did  he  respond.  Then  came  Mrs.  William  G.  Schauffler,  the  venerable 
widow  of  the  honored  and  revered  missionary,  Prof.  Park  of  Andover, 
one  of  whose  ancestors  was  instrumental  in  sending  Parson  Williams' 
father  to  college,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Storrs  of  Brooklyn.  Other  names  on 
President  Storrs'  list  when  our  reporter  left  the  tent  were  Rev.  Charles  R. 
Bliss,  Rev.  Hubbard  Beebe,  Rev.  Mr.  Wolcott,  Rev.  Mr.  Leete,  Rev.  Dr. 
Dorus  Clark,  and  Judge  Shurtleff.  There  were  so  many  speakers  and  they 
had  so  much  that  was  interesting  to  say  that  the  hours  sped  away  all  too 
fast,  but  everybody  agreed  that  the  occasion  had  been  one  of  the  rarest 
interest. 

It  was  remarked  as  a  fine  instance  of  journalistic  enterprise  that 
copies  of  the  Union  containing  the  above,  and  reports  of  the  forenoon 
addresses  and  poem,  were  on  sale  at  the  tent  before  the  close  of  the 
afternoon  exercises. 
18 


136 

From  the  Hartford  Courant,  Oct.  18,  1883. 

A  beautiful  October  day,  a  well  arranged  programme  of  exercises,  and 
a  well-planned  and  a  well-carried-out  scheme  in  every  detail,  all  helped  to 
make  the  Longmeadow  centennial  celebration,  yesterday,  one  of  the  most 
enjoyable  celebrations  of  its  kind  we  have  known  in  these  days  of  centennial 
celebrations.  A  large  tent  was  spread  in  the  center  of  the  beautiful,  wide, 
old  green,  on  the  site  of  the  original  church  edifice,  which  accommodated 
2,500  people,  among  them  many  who  had  come  from  far  away  to  join  with 
the  present  dwellers  in  their  native  place  in  the  celebration  of  the  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  town.  There  were  naturally 
many  pleasant  meetings  of  old  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  many  happy 
family  reunions.  Quite  a  number  of  Hartford  people  who  are  in  some  way 
allied  to  Longmeadow  families,  or  who  came  by  virtue  of  the  invitation 
extended  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Longmeadow  and  to  "every  friend 
to  you  or  herself  allied,"  were  present.  Among  these  were  Seth  Talcott, 
wife  and  daughter ;  Prof.  Pratt,  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  wife ; 
Misses  Julia  B.  and  Katherine  Burbank,  Miss  Goldthwait,  Howard  H.  Keep, 
Miss  Keep,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  R.  Keep,  a  descendant  of  the  early 
settlers  ;  Prof.  Robert  Keep  (now  of  Easthampton,  Mass.),  Richard  S.  Burt, 
George  D.  Bartlett,  and  others. 

The  formal  exercises  of  the  day  in  the  large  tent  commenced  about  half- 
past  ten  o'clock,  Prof.  R.  S.  Storrs,  of  the  American  Asylum  in  this  city, 
being  the  president  of  the  day.  The  exercises  of  the  day  opened  with  Old 
Hundred  by. the  assembly,  led  by  Little's  band  of  Springfield,  followed  by 
Scripture  reading  by  the  Rev.  A.  I.  Dutton,  of  East  Longmeadow,  prayer 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Wolcott,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  a  commemorative 
hymn  by  Dr.  Wolcott. 

Then  followed  the  "  Address  of  Welcome  "  by  the  president  of  the  day, 
Prof.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  of  this  city.  He  commenced  by  reading  the  quaint 
invitation  of  "Mother  Longmeadow"  to  her  children,  which  has  already 
been  printed  in  the  Courant,  and  following  out  the  mythological  idea  of  such 
motherhood  as  a  basis,  made  an  address  exceedingly  graceful  and  appro- 
priate ;  assuming  in  part  to  use  the  words  whispered  to  him  by  the  dear 
Earth  Mother,  "in  stream,  and  grove,  and  rustling  field."  The  address  was 
not  alone  graceful  in  language,  but  was  delivered  with  a  refinement  of  speech, 
and  with  a  grace  and  appropriateness  of  gesture,  which  indicated  that  famil- 
iarity with  the  "sign  language"  taught  at  the  institution  with  which  Prof. 
Storrs  has  been  so  long  connected  admirably  fits  one  for  effective  presen- 
tation of  thoughts  and  ideas  in  the  pulpit  or  upon  the  platform.  (The  thought 
occurs  that  a  study  of  the  sign  language  by  those  whose  professions  require 
much  public  speaking  may  be  as  important  as  some  other  branches  of  study.) 
The  address,  in  its  happy  conception  and  in  its  language,  might  in  some 
measure  be  appropriately  made  to  children  of  other  beautiful  towns  in  the 
lovely  Connecticut  valley. 


137 

A  Centennial  Hymn,  written  by  Prof.  Storrs,  and  recited  by  him  after  the 
address  of  welcome  with  the  same  grace  of  elocution  and  gesture  that 
characterized  the  welcome  was  sung  to  the  tune,  "  Missionary  Chant." 

The  historical  address  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  John  W.  Harding,  pas- 
tor of  the  Longmeadow  Congregational  church.  This,  also,  was  a  model 
production  for  such  an  occasion.  It  was  stripped  of  tedious  details  of  sta- 
tistics, and  was  full  of  well-painted  pictures  of  the  life  and  experience  of  the 
early  settlers,  of  incidents  which  showed  the  character  of  the  people,  their 
struggles  through  the  early  days  of  the  settlement,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  town,  100  years  ago.  The  close  attention  of  the  audi- 
ence was  held  throughout.  This  address  also  was  admirably  delivered. 

An  intermission  followed  this  address,  during  which  a  bountiful  collation 
was  served  to  the  large  assembly  as  they  were  seated  in  the  large  tent. 
In  the  afternoon  a  poem  was  read  by  Mr.  William  E.  Boies,  of  Long- 
meadow,  and  a  hymn  by  Mr.  Boies  was  sung  to  the  tune  of  "  America." 
The  afternoon  was  occupied  by  addresses  by  various  distinguished  speakers, 

more  or  less  intimately  related  to  the  town,  all  of  great  interest ; 

but  the  waning  hours  of  the  afternoon  prevented  the  calling  out  of  some  of 
the  gentlemen  whose  names  had  been  announced.  The  exercises  closed 
with  the  singing  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  followed  by  the  doxology  and  the 
benediction.  It  was  a  happy  day  for  all  present,  and  this  celebration  was  in 
all  respects  highly  creditable  to  the  residents  of  the  town  who  conceived  it 
and  carried  it  out  so  well. 


The  Congregationalist,  Oct.  25,  1883. 

The  past  week  has  witnessed  another  notable  commemorative  occa- 
sion, the  centennial  of  Longmeadow,  equally  successful  in  its  way 
with  the  quarter-millennial  anniversary  of  the  First  church  of  Hartford, 
the  week  before.  We  remember  no  two  occasions  of  the  sort  which, 
on  the  whole,  have  been  made  so  rich  in  interest  and  instruction,  with 
so  little  drawback  of  any  sort.  Dr.  Walker  seems  to  have  untied  some 
of  the  toughest  old  knots  of  New  England  history  in  a  complete  way, 
making  plain  English  of  what  has  baffled  two  centuries.  And  Mr. 
Harding's  singularly  graphic — he  called  them,  and  did  not  overname 
them,  /^0/0-graphic — sketches,  bringing  out  the  salient  points  and  the 
remarkable  men  of  that  lovely  river  town,  were  as  successful  and 
instructive  in  their  elaboration  as  they  were  original  and  striking  in 
their  conception.  We  are  proud  to  number  such  historical  scholars — 
at  once  so  accurate  in  detail  and  so  broad  in  scope — among  the  Con- 
gregational ministers  of  our  generation. 


138 


C— LETTERS  FROM  INVITED  GUESTS. 

BOSTON,  October  16,  1883. 

Messrs.  JOHN  W.   HARDING,  RICHARD  S.  STORRS,  OLIVER  WOLCOTT, 
and  others,  Committee  on  Longmeadow  Centennial : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  delayed  answering  your  kind  invitation  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  celebration  of  Longmeadow's  one  hundredth  birthday  until  the 
last  moment,  hoping  that  the  state  of  my  health  would  permit  my  replying 
in  person.  I  may  not  call  myself  a  son  of  Longmeadow,  but  I  may  perhaps 
claim  the  title  of  a  grandson  of  your  beautiful  town,  for  my  father,  Dr.  John 
Bliss  Stebbins,  was  born  there  in  1802,  and  received  his  earliest  education 
there  at  the  hands  of  his  uncles,  Drs.  John  and  Oliver  Bliss ;  for  the  latter 
of  whom  I  am  named. 

Longmeadow  is,  I  believe,  entitled  to  be  called  the  first  child  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts;  that  is,  the  first  town  organized  after  the  signing  of  the 
Treaty  of  Peace,  Sept.  3,  1783,  had  made  the  State  and  the  country  legally 
and  indisputably,  as  well  as  practically  free  and  independent.  Allow  me, 
gentlemen,  while  thanking  you  for  your  polite  remembrance  of  me,  to  pro- 
pose, if  it  is  proper,  as  a  sentiment,  the  motto  of  the  society  of  which  I  am 
a  member — "  In  Memoriam  Majorum." 

Yours  very  gratefully, 

OLIVER  BLISS  STEBBINS. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Oct.  13,  1883. 

Rev.  J.   W.   HARDING,  R.  S.  STORRS,    OLIVER   WOLCOTT,  and  others, 
Longmeadow  Centennial  Committee : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  regret  that  I  cannot,  in  my  present  state  of  health,  take 
the  part  in  the  exercises  of  your  Centennial  which  you  have  proposed  to 
assign  to  me,  and  I  fear  that  the  same  cause  may  debar  me  from  the  privi- 
lege of  attending  the  Celebration  at  all. 

I  regret  this  exceedingly,  because,  from  the  first,  I  have  counted  upon 
visiting  Longmeadow  on  that  occasion  and  uniting  with  my  cousins,  the 
Blisses,  the  Coltons,  the  Cooleys,  and  others,  in  celebrating  the  virtues  of 
our  common  ancestors. 

Many  of  our  forefathers  and  foremothers  were  remarkable  specimens, 
physically  and  morally,  of  manhood  and  womanhood.  It  is  related  of 
Samuel  Bliss,  one  of  the  number,  that  he  was  a  man  of  great  physical 
powers.  He  died  in  1749  at  tne  age  of  102  years.  His  son  John  lived  to 
be  94,  and  his  grandson,  the  Hon.  John  of  Wilbraham,  to  be  82. 

[These  statements  of  Judge  Morris  seem  to  find  some  corroboration  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  Springfield  Records. — EDS. 

"  John  Bliss  is  by  grant  of  the  plantation  possessed  of  that  Part  of  the  Pond  in 
the  Longmeadow  at  the  Rear  of  the  Lott  he  purchased  of  Anthony  Dorchester  and 
is  of  Like  Breadth  with  the  said  Lott,  and  runs  to  the  foot  of  the  great  hill  Eastward. 
Registered  April  6,  1682.  PELATIAH  BLISS,  Town  Clerk."} 


139 

Quartermaster  George  Colton,  an  early  settler,  was  the  ancestor  of  all  the 
Coltons  in  this  region.  His  name  was  one  of  considerable  prominence  both 
in  Church  and  State.  In  1656  he  was  on  a  committee  with  Pynchon  and  the 
two  deacons  to  supply  the  Springfield  pulpit.  In  1671  he  represented  the 
town  in  the  General  Court.  About  the  same  time  he  was  one  of  a  com- 
mittee that  laid  out  the  town  of  Suffield.  Late  in  life,  after  the  death  of 
his  first  wife,  he  became  the  fourth  and  final  husband  of  Lydia,  the  daughter 
of  Deacon  Wright. 

So  far  as  I  know,  these  ancestors  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  were  reputa- 
ble men.  I  have  never  heard  that  any  of  them  was  ever  charged  with  any 
offence,  except  one  George  Colton,  a  son  or  grandson  of  the  quartermaster. 
That  young  man  went  out  to  Brookfield  to  hear  the  farewell  sermon  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Smith,  and  his  conduct  there  was  so  flagrant  that  the  grand  jury  of  the 
old  County  of  Hampshire  indicted  him.  According  to  the  Court  record  the 
charge  was  that  on  that  occasion  "  he  expressed  himself  in  an  Extravagant 
and  Romancing  manner  relating  to  Deacon  Gilbert's  setting  the  psalm." 
For  this  he  was  admonished  by  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  in  May, 
1723,  and  discharged  upon  paying  costs.  Yours  with  great  respect, 

HENRY  MORRIS. 

ORANGE,  N.  J.,  22  Sept.,  1883. 
To  Mr.  R.  S.  STORRS,  Secretary  Longmeadow  Centennial  Committee : 

MY  DEAR  COUSIN  :  Let  me  thank  you  for  this  very  kind  invitation  just 
received  to  unite  with  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Longmeadow  in  celebrat- 
ing her  Centennial  next  month. 

It  is  with  extreme  regret  that  I  am  compelled  to  decline  its  acceptance. 
But  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  is  to  meet  on  that  very  day  with  my  church 
here,  and  I  cannot  be  absent.  I  trust  you  will  convey  this  explanation  to 
the  committee,  with  assurances  of  my  sincere  sorrow  that  I  cannot  share  in 
what  I  am  sure  will  be  a  most  delightful  occasion. 

Beyond  this,  however,  I  recognize  the  claim  of  the  fair  town  by  the 
"long  meadow"  upon  my  filial  devotion  on  such  a  day.  For  from  her 
bosom  and  her  still  religious  life,  and  all  the  benign  influences  flowing  from 
that,  my  father  came  forth  to  his  work,  the  man  that  he  was.  That  was  a 
kind  Providence  which  set  Longmeadow  as  the  home  of  his  childhood.  The 
solemn  earnestness  of  his  nature  found  fit  environment  in  the  tranquil 
silences  that  brooded  all  atmospheres  for  him  in  these  early  years.  Quiet 
strength,  invincible  stability,  ripe  thoughts,  convictions,  love  ;  that  divine 
unfolding  of  humanity  toward  which  we  are  looking,  but  which  for  most  of 
us  comes  only  after  long  conflict — all  seemed  to  mature  rapidly  in  him  under 
the  gracious  influences  of  his  childhood's  home.  He  went  forth  to  a  great 
work  when  scarcely  more  than  a  child,  yet  fitted  for  it.  More  than  many, 
then,  I  have  reason  for  bringing  an  offering  to  these  services  of  grateful 
commemoration. 


140 

Almost  a  sacred  duty,  too,  it  seems  that  I  should  come  at  such  a  time  to 
join  with  so  many  others  in  the  loving  greetings  that  will  be  showered  upon 
dear  "  Aunt  Eunice,"  now  sole  survivor  of  that  large  group  of  brothers  and 
sisters  cradled  in  the  old  Parsonage, — the  only  representative  to  us  of  that 
vanished  generation. 

As  these  and  other  tender  memories  will  consecrate  the  day  for  those 
who  shall  gather  to  it,  shall  we  not  all  the  more  reverently  adore  the  God, 
and  religiously  maintain  the  faith  that  has  made  Longmeadow  what  it  is,  and 
its  history  the  record  of  so  many  saintly  lives. 

With  affectionate  remembrances  to  you  and  sincere  regards  for  your  col- 
leagues on  the  committee,  I  am  most  truly  yours, 

H.  M.  STORKS. 

BUFFALO,  Oct.  13,  1883. 
To  the  LONGMEADOW  CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEE  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  Your  communication  is  before  me,  and  it  would  be  very 
gratifying  if  I  could  accept  your  invitation  and  be  present  with  you  ;  but  my 
advanced  age — 94  the  5th  of  November  next — forbids  it.  I  was  eleven  years 
old  when  my  father  moved  to  Longmeadow.  He,  with  my  mother,  were 
members  of  the  church,  and  we  attended  there  until  they  removed  their  rela- 
tion to  the  East  Longmeadow  church.  At  16  I  left  home,  and  my  studies 
preparatory  to  entering  Yale  College  in  1809,  were  at  Monson.  During  my 
Junior  year  an  unusual  interest  prevailed,  at  which  time  I,  with  many  others, 
was  converted  and  joined  the  College  church.  I  graduated  in  1813,  and 
soon  after  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover.  During  my  vaca- 
tion in  1816,  learning  that  the  Association  were  to  meet  at  Mr.  Storrs'  house, 
I  applied  for  and  received  a  license,  and  at  Mr.  Storrs'  request  supplied  his 
pulpit  the  next  Sabbath.  Since  that  time  I  have  known  comparatively  little 
of  Longmeadow,  though  always  remembering  with  pleasure  my  early  asso- 
ciations. I  trust  that  your  centennial  gathering  may  be  a  very  happy  one 
and  am,  Gratefully  yours, 

D.  L.  HUNN. 

CITY  OF  JEFFERSON,  Sept.  7,  1883. 
To  Rev.  JOHN  W.  HARDING,  R.  S.  STORRS,  and  others : 

GENTLEMEN  :  Your  kind  invitation  to  the  "  Longmeadow  Centennial  "  is 
received,  and  hereby  gratefully  acknowledged.  Born  and  nurtured  upon  her 
soil,  where  have  dwelt  my  grandfather,  my  father,  and  my  brother,  as  culti- 
vators of  that  soil,  in  unbroken  succession,  from  a  date  long  anterior  to  that 
event  which  you  propose  to  celebrate,  I  would  be  base  indeed  were  I  to  be 
wanting  in  respect  and  reverence  for  her,  or  in  love  for  her  people.  If  it  be 
possible,  I  shall  be  present. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

GEO.  C.  PRATT. 


IOWA  UNIVERSITY,  IOWA  CITY,  Oct.  4,  1883. 
KIND  FRIEND  AND  "  COMRADE  IN  DAYS  GONE  BY  "  : 

It  was  very  kind  and  thoughtful  in  you  to  send  me  an  invitation  to  your  cen- 
tennial gathering.  As  I  read,  a  memory-chamber  of  my  heart  opened,  and  I 
was  a  little  girl  again  in  your  good  old  town,  going  to  school,  happy  in  my  home, 
with  older  as  well  as  younger  friends.  How  well  I  remember  the  street  with 
its  "grand  old  trees,"  and  the  beautiful  sunlight  and  moonlight  shadows  upon 
snow  and  grass ;  remember  also  the  houses,  and  the  dwellers  in  those 
homes  !  I  seem  almost  to  see  their  faces, — to  hear  their  voices  once  more. 
Your  home,  your  grandmother,  and  dear  aunt  Eunice,  and  the  portraits  in 
the  parlor  that  always  had  such  charms  for  me,  they  seemed  so  like  "real 
folk"  I  thought  of  my  sister  and  her  babes  as  resting,  with  many  other 
loved  ones,  in  your  village  cemetery.  The  living  friends  are  widely  scat- 
tered ; — what  matter,  if  all  are  workers  for  the  Master  ?  As  I  cannot  be 
with  you  (save  in  spirit),  I  send  all  good  and  kind  wishes  for  a  happy  and 
highly  successful  celebration  for  you  all.  I  feel  sure  you  will  extend  a  loving 
remembrance  to  those  absent,  as  well  as  give  loving  greetings  to  those 
present  at  your  celebration.  Kindest  regards  from 

MRS.  CORNELIA  WOODHULL  PICKARD. 
To  R.  S.  STORRS,  Sec'y  Centennial  Committee. 

BELOIT  COLLEGE,  BELOIT,  Wis.,  Oct.  10,  1883. 
Rev.  J.  W.  HARDING,  R.  S.  STORRS,  and  others,  Committee,  etc. : 

Longmeadow's  call  through  you  to  her  sons  and  daughters  to  gather  and 
celebrate  with  songs  and  thanksgiving  her  one  hundredth  birthday  has 
reached  me,  and  it  means  me ;  for  in  my  veins  is  mingled  the  blood  of  her 
Coltons  and  Elys,  Blisses  and  Burts.  From  earliest  childhood  I  have  been 
familiar  with  her  broad  street,  her  grand  old  elms,  her  venerable  meeting- 
house, her  comfortable  homes,  and  the  simple,  genial  ways  of  her  industrious, 
godly  people.  For  my  school  and  college  vacations  the  place  always  had 
strong  attractions, — especially  in  the  watermelon  season  !  Delightful  was  the 
companionship  of  cousins,  there  born  and  bred ; — alas  !  that  most  of  them 
have  been  already  called  away  from  earth  ; — and  yet,  thanks  to  God  for  the 
good  lives  they  lived,  and  for  the  good  record  they  have  left  behind. 

I  am  sorely  grieved  that  I  cannot  appear  in  person  to  share  in  the  festivi- 
ties, and  to  get  a  blessing  from  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  occasion.  My 
thoughts  will  be  with  you,  under  the  ancestral  elms  of  the  olden  green,  this 
day  a  week,  and  I  will  call  on  my  soul  to  be  glad  and  bless  our  God  for  all 
the  good  people  and  all  the  good  influences  sent  out  by  our  revered  Mother. 
Praying  that  the  day  may  be  bright  with  sunlight,  and  brighter  still  with  the 
light  of  God's  favor  shed  on  all  who  may  be  gathered,  I  am, 

Yours  fraternally,  A.  L.  CHAPIN. 


142 

TUSTIN,  Los  Angeles 'Co.,  Cal.,  Sept.  25,  1883. 
CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEE,  LONGMEADOW  : 

It  is  with  sincere  regret  that  I,  a  "daughter  of  Longmeadow,"  am  com- 
pelled to  decline  the  cordial  invitation  of  our  "  beloved  Mother "  to  meet 
under  the  "ancestral  elms"  to  celebrate  her  one  hundredth  birthday." 
Three  thousand  miles  lie  between  us,  with  the  Sierras  and  the  Rockies. 

One  hundred  years  !  What  changes  and  revolutions  have  they  wrought ! 
"  A  wonderful  stream  is  the  River  Time  ; "  sixty-three  years  has  it  borne 
me  along,  until  now,  the  last  of  my  father's  family,  it  has  landed  me,  with  my 
husband,  in  a  pleasant  home,  among  the  orange  groves  of  this  sunny  land  of 
California.  We  eat  the  fruit  of  our  own  "vine  and  fig-tree,"  and  summer 
and  winter  alike,  are  surrounded  with  living  green.  Still,  I  look  back  with 
fond  and  loving  memory  to  the  place  of  my  nativity,  and  am  "  made  a  child 
again "  as  I  remember  my  childhood  and  youthful  days  passed  in  happy 
freedom  in  dear  old  Longmeadow. 

To  all  her  sons  and  daughters  who  may  gather  in  October  to  celebrate  her 
natal  day,  I  send  my  best  wishes  and  kindest  regards.  Yours  truly, 

HARRIETT  NEWELL  KELLOM. 

'   VAN,  EASTERN  TURKEY,  Oct.  i,  1883. 
Rev.  J.  W.  HARDING,  R.  S.-STORRS,  and  others  : 

DEAR  FRIENDS  :  Yesterday's  mail  brought  the  kind  invitation  from  your- 
self and  the  other  members  of  the  committee  for  my  wife  and  self  to  be 
present  at  the  coming  centennial  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  good 
town  of  Longmeadow.  Though  my  residence  in  the  town  of  my  birth  was 
too  short  to  fully  identify  me  with  it,  yet  the  memory  of  my  sainted  father 
who  lived  and  died  there,  and  the  continued  residence  within  its  bounds  of 
many  loved  and  honored  friends,  have  sufficed  especially  to  endear  to  me 
my  native  village. 

And  who  is  there  that  has  ever  wandered  "  under  the  ancestral  elms 
of  the  Olden  Green,"  and  been  permitted  to  visit  in  the  beautiful,  cul- 
tured, and  hospitable  homes  that  border  it  on  either  side,  who  would  not 
feel  honored  by  an  invitation  to  its  centennial  gathering,  and  make  every 
effort  to  honor  the  same  by  acceptance  ?  But  alas  !  too  many  leagues  of 
sea  and  land  divide  us.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  hope  that  the  letter  will 
reach  you  in  time  for  the  celebration,  for  I  would  like  to  ask  the  many  there 
assembled  to  entreat  the  Lord  to  grant  to  us  here  in  Van  that  gracious  out- 
pouring of  His  Spirit's  presence,  which  we  so  much  need. 

With  grateful  acknowledgments  and  hearty  greetings  from  my  wife  and 
self  to  all  who  may  remember  us,  I  remain  yours  most  truly, 

G.  C.  RAYNOLDS. 


H3 

SHWEIFAT,  TURKEY,  Nov.  28,  1883. 
MY  DEAR  COUSIN  SALTER  : 

I  was  much  gratified  by  the  receipt  of  the  invitation  from  our  "venera- 
ble and  beloved  Mother,"  and  still  more  by  the  very  interesting  notice  of 
the  celebration  in  the  Republican,  which  I  read  with  the  greatest  pleasure. 
With  its  aid,  I  can  imagine  a  great  deal,  though  I  cannot  but  wish  most 
earnestly  that  I  could  have  been  there.  How  pleasant  must  have  been 
the  gathering  of  relatives  and  friends,  as  well  as  of  townspeople,  on  such 
an  occasion.  Dear  Aunt  Schauffler  must  have  so  enjoyed  her  visit  with 
Aunt  Eunice. 

I  cherish  delightful  memories  of  my  early  home  at  Longmeadow,  and 
of  later  visits  there.  With  tender  interest  I  always  walk  through  the 
quiet  grave-yard,  and  I  love,  here  in  my  distant  home,  to  recall  the  grand 
old  elms  and  beautiful  green  sward  beneath,  of  my  girlhood.  That  photo- 
graph of  the  old  meeting-house  and  part  of  the  noble  street  which  you  so 
kindly  sent  me  hangs  in  my  own  room,  and  in  imagination  I  see  it  in  its 
natural  coloring. 

How  many  of  our  precious  ones  who  have  walked  those  paths  with  us  are 
already  garnered  above.  I  often  recall  the  silent,  sad  moments,  after  my 
dear  father  breathed  his  last,  broken  by  my  grandfather's  voice,  in  quiet 
tone  saying,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God."  It  is  good  to  lie  still  in 
His  hands  and  to  learn  more  and  more  what  a  God  he  is  ;  how  merciful  and 
gracious,  even  when  he  takes  our  precious  treasures  from  us.  To  that 
heavenly  home,  with  its  river  of  life  and  trees  of  healing  for  the  nations, 
may  we  all  at  length  attain,  to  go  no  more  out  forever. 
Your  affectionate  cousin, 

EMILY  P.  CALHOUN. 

A  fitting  "  pendant "  to  the  letters  of  those  invited  guests  who  were 
detained  from  the  exercises,  might  be  a  series  of  those  since  received 
from  guests  of  the  occasion,  testifying  their  enjoyment  of  it.  A  sin- 
gle sample  from  many  must  suffice. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Dec.  13,  1883. 
Prof.  R.  S.  STORRS.  Secretary  of  the  Centennial  Committee  : 

Next  to  the  Bible,  I  would  like  the  Longmeadow  Centennial  Volume. 
Such  an  enjoyable  occasion  I  never  shall  forget,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Harding's 
historical  address  on  that  gala  day  for  Longmeadow.  And  all  those  fine 
speeches  !  Ministers  are  full  of  wit  and  are  very  human,  I  find,  and  like 
fun  at  the  right  time  as  well  as  professors  do.  I  thank  you  for  starting 
that  ball  which  assumed  such  large  proportions  as  the  day  wore  on. 

We  do  not  belong  to  the  Colton  family.  My  husband's  father  was  deacon 
of  the  church  at  East  Longmeadow,  though  we  were  not  born  deacons — all 
of  us.  Please  send  the  book,  when  it  is  issued,  to  Mrs.  E.  A.  B.  McNary 
Chandler. 

19 


144 

D.— EAST  LONGMEADOW  GROWTH. 

That  portion  of  the  town  now  designated  as  East  Longmeadow,  was 
originally  an  almost  unbroken  forest,  infested  with  bears  and  wild 
cats,  which  considerably  annoyed  the  early  settlers.  It  was  also 
prolific  with  deer,  turkeys,  pigeons,  and  other  wild  game.  Pastor 
Williams  alludes  to  the  bear  hunts  which  were  organized  to  protect 
the  cornfields  in  their  clearings  from  this  pilfering  beast,  and  also  to 
the  more  welcome  and  noble  flocks  of  wild  turkeys  which  used  to 
emerge  from  the  forest  into  his  home  lot.  The  countless  pigeons 
that  thronged  these  woods,  tempted  our  fathers  to  spread  their  nets, 
and  furnished  them  with  cheap  game  in  great  abundance.  A  wide 
expanse  of  this  original  forest  still  remains  to  separate  the  two  por- 
tions of  the  town,  and  so  extensive  and  intricate  is  it,  that  a  wild  hog 
which  had  been  imported  from  Smyrna  by  Mr.  Francis  T.  Cordis 
and  had  escaped  from  his  enclosure,  not  many  years  ago  gave  an 
exciting  chase  of  several  days  duration  to  a  company  of  expert  hunt- 
ers. This  forest,  which,  by  reason  of  its  natural  soil  and  situation, 
gives  promise  of  indefinite  continuance,  is  traversed  by  a  labyrinth  of 
roads  that  are  much  sought  for  as  pleasure  drives,  and  may  well  be 
widened  and  improved  in  view  of  their  easy  connection  with  the  sys- 
tem of  "park  roads,"  and  the  utilization  of  the  adjacent  Pecowsic 
Valley  contemplated  in  the  public  improvements  of  Springfield. 

The  eastern  part  of  the  town  used  to  be  called  "  Inward  Commons," 
because  it  consisted,  apart  from  the  scattered  clearings  here  and 
there  appropriated  to  private  ownership,  of  undivided  lands  which 
were  used  for  general  pasturage.  The  early  settlers  of  East  Long- 
meadow  acquired  their  titles  either  from  "  Town  grants  "  or  "  Pro- 
prietor's grants."  The  town  originally  owned  all  the  land,  and  made 
its  own  grants.  The  "  proprietors  "  were  inhabitants  and  land  owners, 
among  whom  were  distributed  these  undivided  lands  in  the  time  of 
the  tyrannical  Governor,  Edmund  Andros,  when  he  began  in  other 
parts  of  the  province  to  sequestrate  the  undivided  or  "  common  " 
lands,  and  the  threatened  danger  was  that  the  provincial  charter 
might  be  annulled,  and  that  all  such  lands  might  revert  to  the  crown. 
They  were  hastily  laid  out — taking  advantage  of  the  saving  clause 
which  protected  individual  property — into  long  and  narrow  strips 
proportioned  to  the  number  of  polls  belonging  to  each  man's  family, 
and  to  his  rateable  estate  ;  and  they  were  merged  in  the  course  of  time 
by  sale  and  exchange  into  the  more  convenient  form  of  compacted 
farms. 


145 

The  first  settlers  from  the  "  street "  were  Jonathan  and  Elijah,  sons 
of  David  Burt ;  and  Silas,  son  of  Thomas  Hale,  about  the  year  1740. 
After  them  came  from  various  quarters,  the  Taylors,  Dwights,  Lathrops, 
Hancocks,  Ashleys,  Munns,  McGregorys,  Cooleys,  Wolcotts,  Halls, 
Websters,  Indicotts,  Hunns,  Stebbinses,  Hills,  Swetlands,  Pratts,  Bil- 
lingses,  Markhams,  Steels,  Browns,  Scotts,  Porters,  Peases,  Cranes, 
Ellises,  Morgans,  Calkinses,  Chandlers,  Webbers,  Mclntoshes,  Chap- 
mans,  and  Rumrills. 

Notwithstanding  the  separation  by  several  miles  of  intervening  for- 
est, the  two  portions  of  the  town  were  from  the  outset  closely  con- 
nected by  intermarriages,  and  identified  in  the  same  precinct  and 
town,  and  until  1829,  in  the  same  church, — if  we  except  from. this 
statement  the  Baptist  organization  of  a  somewhat  earlier  date,  in  the 
extreme  eastern  district. 

During  this  more  recent  period,  however,  their  several  interests 
have  been  growing  more  and  more  divergent  and  diversified  by  the 
formation  of  new  churches,  as  well  as  by  the  thriving  industry  of  the 
stone  quarries,  the  centralization  of  business  in  the  East  Longmeadow 
village,  and  the  new  railroad  connecting  it  with  Springfield  and  Hart- 
ford. 

Although  in  the  past  the  advantages  of  a  richer  soil,  larger  wealth, 
and  larger  population  have  belonged  to  the  old  community  of  the 
"long  meadow,"  the  thrifty  agriculture,  growing  enterprise,  and 
increasing  population  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  are  already 
balancing  the  accounts.  The  outlook  of  the  stone  quarry  business 
especially  gives  cheering  financial  promise.  In  the  chief  cities  far  and 
near,  the  Longmeadow  red  sandstone  has  gained  a  national  reputa- 
tion. Of  fine  grain  and  durable  material,  rich  and  warm  in  color,  it 
is  more  and  more  demanded. 

The  earliest  quarries  were  upon  the  lands  of  McGregory  and  Pratt, 
the  Lords,  Ashley,  and  Mclntosh,  who  used  principally  the  surface  stone 
and  furnished  little  beyond  local  demands.  As  the  business  extended, 
it  was  for  a  time  monopolized  and  extended  by  Burgess  Salisbury,  and 
Seth  Taylor.  Then  the  Messrs.  Kibbe  and  Alfred  Taylor  engaged  in 
it.  Again,  it  was  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  A.  Dwelly  of  Spring- 
field. In  the  course  of  time  Edmund  Pratt,  Sidney  Kibbe,  and  Je- 
rome Billings,  took  it  up.  At  the  present  time  this  industry,  with 
greatly  enlarged  facilities  of  labor  and  machinery,  is  mainly  absorbed 
by  the  Norcross  Brothers  of  Worcester,  and  James  and  Mara  of 
Springfield,  who  do  a  widely  extended  and  increasing  business, 


146 

The  settlers  of  East  Longmeadoxv  were,  from  the  beginning,  men 
and  women  of  the  same  sterling  character  and  homogeneous  stock 
that  peopled  the  elder  community,  and  their  friendly  rivalries  in  all 
public  affairs  of  town  or  State  administration  have  been  maintained 
with  equal  ability.  No  men  have  better  served  the  town  in  offices  of 
trust,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  than  such  as  Joseph  W.  Cooley, 
Deacon  Abial  Pease,  Seth  Taylor,  Burgess  Salisbury,  Randolph  Steb- 
bins,  and  others  of  like  capacity. 

One  of  the  elder  citizens  of  East  Longmeadow,  thus  records  his 
early  recollections.  "  There  was  a  large  extent  of  wood  land,  poor 
roads,  sqme  stone  wall  and  Virginia  rail  fence,  but  more  of  hedge- 
fence,  or  piled  up  staddles  and  brush.  The  people  were  honest,  indus- 
trious, capable,  hospitable,  obliging,  and  Sabbath-keeping.  On  a 
Sunday  morning  a  long  string  of  wagons  would  file  into  the  highway 
leading  to  the  old  church  in  the  street ;  generally  two  horse  farm  wag- 
ons with  boards  across  for  seats,  one  covered  hack — the  Taylor  car- 
riage,— and  Deacon  Burt's  chaise ;  the  boys  and  girls  went  on  foot,  and 
sometimes  with  their  shoes  in  hand  to  be  put  on  as  they  neared  the 
church.  As  the  long  line  filed  out  through  the  woods,  the  first  were 
the  Dwights,  then  came  the  Hales,  Gowdies,  Pratts,  Taylors,  Cooleys, 
and  Ashleys ;  from  another  road  the  procession  was  joined  by  the 
Burts,  Blisses,  Hunns,  Websters,  and  others — all  worthy  names — 
while  in  the  southeast  corner,  or  Baptist  neighborhood,  there  re- 
mained to  worship  in  the  old  and  long  school-house,  the  Peases,  Mark- 
hams,  McGregorys,  Swetlands,  Indicotts,  and  Dwights,  with  some  of 
their  neighbors  living  across  the  Somers  line.  Among  the  educated 
men  furnished  by  the  east  part  of  the  town,  were  Revs.  Lathrop  Hunn, 
Joseph  Scott,  Jonathan  Burt,  Henry  Martyn  Tupper,  and  Hon.  Geo. 
C.  Pratt  of  Missouri,  Professor  in  the  State  University,  and  more 
recently  Civil  Engineer  and  Railroad  Commissioner.  Among  the 
practising  physicians  may  be  enumerated  Henry  White,  Edwin  McRay, 
Rial  Strickland,  Edward  S.  Beebe,  Ralph  P.  Markham,  and  Joseph  B. 
Atwater." 

From  other  local  sources  are  gathered  the  following  data.  David 
Lathrop,  the  present  David  Lathrop's  grandfather,  came  from  East 
Windsor,  Ct.,  in  1804,  and  lived  where  E.  K.  Sellew  now  lives  ;  his 
wife's  maiden  name  was  Nancy  Chipman.  Ephraim  Hunn,  father  of 
Rev.  Lathrop  Hunn,  came  from  Hadlyme,  Ct.,  in  the  year  1800.  He 
was  taken  prisoner  by  the  British,  being  at  Stonington  when  Arnold 
burned  the  place.  He  settled  where  his  son  Erastus  now  lives,  and 


147 

died  in  1862,  aged  96.  Thaddcus  Billings  settled  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  John  Allen,  and  owned  all  the  land  reaching  to  and  includ- 
ing the  farm  where  Calvin  Webster  now  lives.  He  gave  the  land 
for  the  burying  ground  on  "  Billings  Hill."  Ebenezer  McGregory,  at 
whose  house  pastor  Storrs  used  frequently  to  preach,  settled  where 
Elliott  B.  Markham  now  lives,  93  years  ago  ;  he  built  a  log  house  in 
the  wilderness  and  the  first  winter  kept  his  cattle  on  brush.  He  was 
a  blacksmith  and  used  to  make  nails  for  the  government.  He  married 
Susan  Bradley  from  Tolland,  Conn.  His  sons  were  Ebenezer  and 
Joseph ;  his  daughters',  Susan,  Thankful,  Hannah,  and  Lucina.  The 
name  Ebenezer  continued  in  the  family  to  the  fifth  generation. 

Timothy  Brown  settled  near  where  Warren  Frost's  house  stands. 
He  died  without  issue  56  years  ago.  Dea.  Abial  Pease  was  a  prom- 
inent business  man  in  the  early  history  of  the  town.  He  lived  to  a 
great  age  and  died  without  issue.  Jacob  Hills  settled  in  the  wilder- 
ness near  Watchoag  brook,  where  his  son  Solomon's  widow  now 
lives,  97  years  of  age.  He  built  a  cabin  of  poles,  and  after  living 
in  it  a  number  of  years  built  a  log  house  which  he  occupied  until 
1811,  when  he  built  the  frame  house  occupied  by  his  son's  family. 
He  was  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  present  at  the  execution  of 
Andre.  He  married  Naoma  Bishop  of  Wilbraham.  They  had  a 
family  of  nine  children,  some  of  whom  are  still  living.  Joseph  Scott 
came  from  Brookline,  Mass.,  and  settled  on  the  hill  where  his  daughter 
Eunice  now  lives.  Israel  Swetland  settled  on  the  farm  where  Calvin 
Kibbe  lives,  and  was  probably  one  of  the  first  proprietors.  His 
daughter,  Mrs.  Hannah  Hall,  recently  died  at  the  age  of*  86. 

The  Dwights  of  East  Longmeadow  were  descendants  of  Nathaniel, 
eldest  son  of  Timothy  Dwight  of  Dedham ;  the  Springfield  Dwights 
being  the  descendants  of  Henry,  the  fourth  son  of  Timothy.  Elihu 
Dwight  settled  on  Pecowsic  Brook,  in  1784.  It  is  said  of  him,  "A 
very  honest  man  but  much  set  in  his  way ;  a  quaint  old  Puritan,  of 
as  strong  likes  and  dislikes  as  any  Dwight  ever  had."  The  "  Dwight 
place "  was  bought  for  about  83  cents  per  acre.  Elisha  Dwight 
used  to  bring  his  family  to  church  in  an  ox-cart,  the  custom  also 
of  some  others.  In  his  old  age,  he  joined  the  Baptists,  and  one 
of  his  "  dislikes "  came  near  preventing  his  profession  of  faith. 
Standing  upon  the  banks  of  Scantic  river  when  his  turn  came  to 
go  into  the  water  for  baptism,  he  seemed  strangely  reluctant.  Fixing 
his  gaze  upon  the  stream  and  shaking  his  staff  in  a  mysterious  man- 
ner, he  would  not  move.  "  Come,"  said  Elder  Atwell,  in  a  persuasive 


148 

tone.  But  the  old  man,  still  gazing  into  the  untried  depths  would  not 
stir.  Finally  he  broke  the  mysterious  pause.  "  Paul  Langdon  killed 
three  big  water-snakes  right  there  last  June !  "  But  having  reassured 
himself  by  sundry  vigorous  passes  in  the  water  with  his  staff,  he  sub- 
mitted to  the  proprieties  of  the  case.  His  son,  Oliver,  carried  on  the 
coopering  business  in  connection  with  his  farm.  He  left  the  old 
church  and  joined  the  Baptist  because  of  his  "  strong  dislike  "  towards 
the  "  seating "  arrangement  of  the  committee  who  "  dignified  the 
house."  He  taught  school  in  "  district  No.  4,"  for  $4.00  per  month. 
His  son,  the  late  Oliver  Dwight,  carried  on  for  many  years  the  tanning 
business. 

Elam  Hale  owned  the  first  one-horse  wagon  in  East  Longmeadow, 
and  Dea.  Ebenezer  Burt  the  first  chaise,  about  1812.  An  Enfield 
man  having  been  injured  by  a  fall  from  his  wagon  in  descend- 
ing Burt's  Hill,  so  that  he  was  laid  up  in  a  neighboring  house 
for  several  weeks,  and  his  condition  forbidding  his  riding  in  a  wagon 
without  springs,  his  Enfield  neighbors  came  one  Sunday  and  carried 
him  home  on  their  shoulders.  The  house  now  owned  by  Joseph 
Nichols  is  the  oldest  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town.  As  late  as 
1820,  there  were  only  five  painted  houses,  and  these  were  painted  red. 
Carpets  were  unknown,  and  stoves  very  rare. 

Grindstones  were  furnished  from  the  quarries  for  the  government, 
until  superseded  by  the  Nova  Scotia  stone.  Coopering  was  carried 
on  by  Solomon  and  Luther  Hills,  who  also  ran  a  saw-mill.  A  fulling- 
mill  and  several  cider-mills  were  also  numbered  among  the  manu- 
factures, and  cider-brandy  was  not  neglected.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town  claimed  and  maintained  their  equal  rights 
in  school  privileges,  in  military  affairs,  in  town  offices,  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  gospel,  and  shared  in  the  support  of  a  public 
library  which  was  located  in  the  street.  At  a  later  day  they  estab- 
lished a  library  of  their  own.  Pastors  Williams  and  Storrs  were 
assiduous  in  their  pastoral  visitations  in  this  portion  of  the  united 
parish  and  frequently  held  preaching  services  in  private  houses. 
About  1820  the  arrangement  was  consummated  of  holding  the 
elections  alternately  in  each  part  of  the  town.  In  1882,  a  spacious 
Town  Hall  was  provided  by  votes  of  the  town,  in  the  upper  story  of  a 
new  school  building,  and  built  at  the  center  of  the  east  village,  of  the 
native  sandstone,  by  Norcross  &  Brothers,  at  a  cost  of  $7,000.  The 
recent  increase  of  private  buildings  stimulated  by  the  quarries  and 
the  new  Railroad  station,  gives  fresh  evidence  of  the  growing  thrift 
and  properous  outlook  of  East  Longmeadow. 


149 

E.— SELECTIONS  FROM    PRECINCT  AND  TOWN  RECORDS. 

During  the  seventy  years  of  the  Longmeadow  Settlement  no  Records 
appear  to  have  been  kept  distinct  from  those  of  Springfield,  of  which  it  was 
an  integral  part.  Its  separate  precinct  records,  commencing  in  1714,  are 
contained  in  two  square  octavo  volumes,  which  are  curiosities  of  ancient 
binding  and  chirography.  One  is  a  Book  of  Records  of  Precinct  Meetings 
— the  other  of  the  accounts  of  the  Prudential  Committees.  The  latter 
bears  on  its  fly-leaf  the  inscription,  "  The  Commte  for  the  Prudential  Aff" 
of  Longmeadow  precinct  in  Springfield.  Thare  Book."  The  authority  for 
its  purchase  is  found  upon  page  17  of  the  .Book  of  Precinct  Records.  "  Voat- 
ted  to  purchas  a  book  for  the  Committee  for  the  prudential  afairs  of  the 
precinct  to  keep  the  accompts  of  the  precinct  in  from  time  to  time ;  and  by 
the  voatt  of  the  precinct  the  prefent  Commute  were  ordered  to  Doe  itt  on 
the  charge  of  the  Precinct."  Both  are  strongly  bound  in  flexible  hide.  The 
records  of  the  first  century  of  Town  history  are  contained  in  two  large  folio 
volumes  of  more  modern  make,  and  those  of  the  Parishes  in  still  separate  vol- 
umes. Besides  these  there  is  a  Road  Book,  as  it  is  called,  containing  the  record 
of  the  doings  of  the  Springfield  Committee  who  originally  "  modeled  "  the 
Longmeadow  Settlement  on  the  hill,  including  the  individual  "  grants  "  as  well 
as  the  highway  "  lay-outs,"  besides  many  other  documentary  records. 

It  is  the  aim  of  the  following  selections  from  all  of  these  Record  books 
to  group  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  tell  successive  stories  of  Town  history 
as  nearly  as  may  be  in  the  words  of  our  fathers  themselves. 

The  work  of  deciphering  and  collating  such  ancient  manuscripts  is  no  light 
one,  as  all  who  have  attempted  it  know  full  well ;  but  there  is  a  raciness  and 
flavor  in  the  result  which  amply  repays.  The  incessant  challenge  which  such 
documentary  history  necessarily  makes  upon  the  imagination  of  the  reader  to 
link  the  votes  together  in  the  unity  of  the  actual  occurrences,  is  far  more  stim- 
ulating than  the  passive  reception  into  his  mind  of  the  historian's  narrative. 
These  votes  are  the  collective  utterances  of  our  fathers  themselves — their 
very  words — and  have  all  the  piquancy  of  actual  dialogue  and  direct  quota- 
tion, over  diffuse  narrative  and  oblique  translation.  Reviewing  such  a  series 
of  votes  and  reading  between  their  lines,  we  seem  to  see  our  ancestors  them- 
selves enacting  before  us  the  drama  of  their  real  lives,  and  to  become  partici- 
pants in  their  passing  thoughts  and  plans.  Their  policy,  their  strategy, 
and  all  their  phases  of  character  become  evident  and  real  to  us,  as  no  mere 
description  of  arlother  could  make  them. 

Our  pioneer  ancestors  were  as  independent  and  original  in  their  spelling 
as  in  their  character,  or  as  the  most  ardent  of  modern  phonetic  reformers 


150 

could  desire — but  not  one  whit  more  so  than  the  most  celebrated  literary 
characters  of  those,  or  slightly  earlier,  times.  Modern  precisians  who  may  be 
inclined  to  disrespect  them  on  account  of  their  independence  in  this  regard 
may  properly  be  reminded  of  Coleridge's  dictum  in  another  application  ; 
"  Until  you  understand  your  opponent's  ignorance,  presume  yourself  ignorant 
of  his  understanding." 

Shakespere  is  said  to  have  spelled  his  own  name  in  thirty  different  ways. 
Queen  Elizabeth  spelled  the  word  '  sovereign  '  in  seven.  The  Duchess  of 
Norfolk,  an  accomplished  lady  of  the  1 6th  century,  writes  thus  to  the  Earl  of 
Essex  :  "  My  ffary  gode  lord.  Her  I  fand  you  in  Tokyn  hoff  the  neweyer 
a  glafs  of  Setyl  fet  in  Sellfer  gyld."  1  pra  you  tak  it.  An  hy  wer  habel 
hit  fhowlde  be  bater."  And  to  give  no  further  illustrations,  Tyndale  in  his 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  spells  the  little  word  "  it  "  in  the  follow- 
ing seven  different  ways  :  "  Itt — yt — ytt — hit — hitt — hyt — hytt."  *  With 
this  explanation  the  following  extracts  from  the  Longmeadow  Ancient 
Records  are  submitted  to  the  reader : 


THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  FIRST  MEETING-HOUSE. 

Just  as  the  Gospel  Ministry  was  the  crystalizing  thought  of  the  Precinct 
organization,  so  the  story  of  its  Meeting-House  is  by  far  the  most  important 
in  its  history.  It  is  simply  wonderful  to  see  to  what  an  extent  the  thought, 
the  affection,  and  the  action  of  the  Longmeadow  Precinct  concentrated 
itself  upon  its  Meeting-House.  Delete  from  its  Record  Book  all  those  votes 
which  have  reference  directly  or  indirectly  to  this,  and  the  residuum  would 
be  of  very  minor  amount  and  importance.  The  following  are  a  few  of 
them,  consecutively  arranged  in  such  a  way  as  to  tell,  of  themselves, 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  FIRST  MEETING-HOUSF, 
from   its  commencement   in    1714,  to  its  sale  in  1769: 

April  26,  1714.  Voated,  To  proceed  in  building  of  a  meeting-hous,  and  to  accom- 
plifli  it  so  far  as  to  Raise  fliinglc  and  Clabbord  the  fame  by  the  firft  day  of  January  next 
infuingj  having  a  regard  to  the  tennor  of  the  agreement  made  by  thofe  that  gave  their  in- 
tereft  in  the  meeting  hous  Timber. 

April  26,  1714.  Voated,  that  the  meeting  hous  fliould  be  built  Thirty  Eight  foots 
fquare,'  if  the  Timber  that  is  already  gotten  will  allow  it,  or  if  this  Timber  be  too  leant  to 
make  it  fumthing  less.  As  to  the  place  of  fetting  up  or  railing  laid  Meeting-hous,  it  was 
voated  it  fhould  be  left  to  the  determination  of  the  prefent  Committee.  Nath1  Burt  Jun. 
Sam1  Keep,  Thomas  Haile,  Thomas  Colton  Jun.  and  Samuel  Stebbins  were  chofen  a 
Committee  to  take  care  to  provide  workmen  and  materials  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the 
fd  Meeting-hous  to  that  maturity  and  by  the  Time  as  aforsd. 

*  Cornhill  Magazine,  May,  1876. 


October  1 1,  1714.  Honrd  Col.  Pynchon  being  chofen  Moderator  for  faid  meeting,  and 
for  all  futch  meetings  when  prefent  among  us — Voted  to  Raife  and  Gather  the  fum  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds  for  the  Defraying  the  charge  of  building  the  meeting-hous. 
Daniel  Cooley,  Sam1  Keep  and  George  Colton  were  chofen  as  Truftees  to  receive  the  faid 
fum  granted,  and  to  have  the  approbation  of  three  of  the  Committee  within  the  precinc~l 
for  the  difpenfing  and  paying  out  of  the  fd  fum,  Viz — Capt.  Colton,  Serg*  Jofeph  Cooley, 
and  George  Colton. 

It    was    furder  voated   the   prefent   Committee  for   the   carrying   on   the   work  of  the 
meeting  hous  fhould   profeed  to  provide  for  and  to  lay  the  floore,  and  doo  fum  part  of  the 
walling  and  to  fet  up  the  Doors  and  other  neceffaries  of  the  meeting  hous  for  our  meeting 
in  it. 
From  a  record  on  the  fly  leaf  of  the  Committee  Book  it  appears  that, 

"The  year  1714  there  was  a  Rate  amounting  to  the  fum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
four  pounds  four  fhillings  and  one  pence  delivered  to  Nath1  Blifs  Collector  to  gather  to  de- 
fray the  charges  arifing  for  the  building  the  meeting  house. 

THOMAS  COLTON.  NATHANIEL  BURT  2nd  Com." 

February  10,  1715.  Voated,  to  chufe  and  appoint  a  Committee  to  carry  on  the  work 
of  the  meeting  hous  to  the  finifhing  and  compleating  of  the  fame  Except  the  Galeries 
by  the  Month  of  April,  which  will  be  in  the  year  1716. 

That  the  house  was  already  used  for  worship,  although  incomplete,  is 
shown  by  the  following  vote  from  the  Committee's  Book,  providing  for  its 
weekly  care : 

March  ye  22d  Ano.  1 7 if.  We  then  agreed  with  Margaret  Cooley  to  fweep  the  meet- 
ing houfe  for  one  year  from  this  date,  and  to  give  her  feventeen  fhillings  if  there  be  no 
worke  don  in  the  meeting  hous ;  for  eighteen  ("hillings  if  there  be  any  confiderable. 

NATH'  BURT  2nd  SAML  KEEP  2nd  THOMAS  BLISS. 

September  3,  1716.  Furder  Voated  that  the  Committee  for  the  meeting  hous  fhould 
profeed  to  lay  the  Joyce  and  fome  bords  for  a  floor  in  the  Galery  of  the  Meeting-hous. 

November  2,  1722.  Voatted  to  Raife  the  fum  of  two  pounds  for  to  procure  fum  bords 
and  gice  for  the  laying  the  gallery  floor  and  fum  other  work  in  the  meeting-hous. 

March  n,  1728.  Voatted  thatt  Dean  Natth1  Burtt:  En:  Keep  and  Sernt  Haille  Should 
be  a  committee  to  Do  Sum  Work  in  the  meeting  hous  j  that  is,  to  make  flairs  in  to  the 
Gallery  and  to  Lay  the  Gallery  floar  and  faw  under  the  banifters  Round  the  Gallery  and  to 
plain  the  Gice  and  under  fide  of  the  flore  of  the  Gallery. 

April  3,  1729.  It  was  Determined  by  Voat  to  Repaire  the  meeting  hous  fo  far  as  is 
needfull :  and  to  finifh  the  wall  of  the  meeting  hous  with  Lath  and  plafter  and  white 
wafh  and  lay  the  floore  and  plafter  the  clabords  with  Lime  in  the  Bell  Chamber. 

October  26,  1730.  Granted  the  Sum  of  twenty  five  pounds  ten  fhillings  for  Defraying 
the  Charge  of  Repaireing  and  finifhing  the  meeting  hous. 

Granted  to  Decon  Nath1  Burtt  one  pounde  twelve  fhillings  and  fixpenfe  for  making  flairs 
into  the  Bell  Chamber. 

October  3,  1732.  Voted  to  raife  the  fum  of  twenty  pounds  for  Defraying  the  charge  of 
finifhing  the  Gallery  in  the  meeting  hous  and  fum  other  work  that  is  to  be  Don  as  provide- 
ing  and  laying  fteping  ftones  and  laying  the  floore  in  the  weft  of  the  meeting  hous. 

October  5,  1733.     Voated    to   Raife  the  Sum   of  ten   pounds  to  defray  the  charge  that 

2O 


hath  been  expended  on  work  about  the  meeting  hous" ;  and  Sum  work  that  is  yet  to  be 
Don  partly  by  the  Comtee  of  the  meeting  hous  and  partly  by  the  precindt  Comtee;  as  laying 
fteping  ftones  at  the  meeting  hous  dores,  and  laying  gravel  or  clay  or  fomething  of  that  na- 
ture, to  preferve  the  underpining  from  foundering  by  the  blowing  away  of  the  fand,  and 
also  the  precindt  Comtee  to  Draw  out  money  out  of  the  treafurery  to  defray  this  charge. 

March  12,  1722.  Voated  that  the  Committee  of  the  precindt  fhall  take  the  care  of 
fecureing  the  meeting  hous  and  Repaire  itt  att  the  corners  of  the  underpining  outt  fide 
whar  the  wind  hath  blown  away  the  fand. 

March  10,  1740.     Votted  to  cover  the  pulpit  Cufhen  with  Green  plufh  and  that  the  pre- 
cindt Comtee  take  care  to  Doe  itt  and  to  Draw  money  out  of  the  precindt  Treafury  to  De- 
fray the  charge. 
Which  is  supplemented  by  the  following  entry  on  the  Committee  Book  : 

March  id,  1740.      Mr.  Timothy  Nafh.      Cr. 

By  4  yds  Green  Plufh  to  Cover  the  Pulpit  Cufhion    £7  oo  oo  £    s    d 

By  10.  yds  of  filk         .         .         .          .         .  0136  7136 

Also,  November  16,  1741.      Granted  to  Mr.  Nafh  five  fhillings  for  an  hower  glafs. 

November  2,  1743-  Voted  that  the  Committe  that  were  chofen  to  pave  Round  the 
meeting  hous  do  it  as  follows  :  to  wit  5  foots  wide  on  the  eaft  fide  and  on  the  weft  fide  and 
on  the  fouth  fide  ;  and  on  the  north  fide  3  foots  wide. 

Aug.  24,  1743.  Voted  to  make  two  glafs  windows  on  the  North  fide  of  the  meeting 
Hous  on  each  fide  of  the  pulpit  and  the  precindt  Commitee  to  accomplifh  it. 

December  9,  1754.  Voted  that  David  Burt  John  Hale  and  Serg*  Sam1  Keep  be  a 
Comtee  Impowered  to  View  and  Buy  the  Shingle  that  Deacon  Burt  Deacon  Ely  and  Jofiah 
Cooley  Have  Already  Got,  or  May  further  Get  to  Cover  the  Roof  of  the  Meeting  Houle, 
or  to  Procure  Shingle  for  the  aforesd  use  Other  Where  If  they  Cant  Agree  with  the  Above 
Mentioned  Perfons. 

March  24,  1755.  Voted  that  The  Roof  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  be  New  Covered  with 
Shingle  this  Prefent  year  and  alfo  the  Waift  in  fd  Roof  Boarded.  Voted  that  Jonathan 
Stebbins,  Deacon  Nath1  Ely  and  Deacon  Nath1  Burt  be  a  Comtee  to  Profecute  fd  Work 
and  Provide  what  is  further  NecefTary  therefor.. 

May.  5,  1755.  Voted  That  the  Comtee  Chofen  March  24  1755  to  Profecute  the  Cov- 
ering the  Roof  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  and  the  Waift  in  fd  Roof  Ceafe  from  Profecuting 
fd  Work  for  this  Year  or  till  further  Orders  from  the  Precindt. 

December  5,  1755.  v°'ed  That  Enfign  Colton  be  a  Comtee  in  the  Room  or  Stead  of 
L*  Nathel  Burt  Dec'd  to  Joyne  MefTrs  Jonathan  Stebbins  and  Deacon  Nathel  Ely  who 
were  chofen  a  Commitee  March  24  1755  to  Profecute  the  Covering  the  Meeting  Houfe 
as  in  fd  vote  is  expreffed  and  Provide  what  is  further  NecefTary  Therefor  The  above  Comtee 
are  Defired  to  Provide  as  Soon  as  May  be  Every  thing  Necelfary  for  the  Covering  I'1  Houfe 
Both  the  Body  and  Roof. 

January  3,  1759.  Voted  that  the  Meeting  Houfe  in  faid  Precindt  fhall  be  New  Covered 
in  Whole  or  in  Part.  Voted  that  the  fd  Meeting  Houfe  fhall  be  Covered  in  the  Whole 
Both  the  Body  and  the  Roof  as  foon  as  Conveniently  Can  be  the  Enfuing  Year.  Voted 
that  Dea"  Nathel  Ely  Capt  Simon  Colton  John  Hale  Junr  Jonathan  Stebbins  and  Josiah 
Cooley  be  a  Comtee  to  Take  the  Whole  Care  to  Profecute  and  Effect  the  Covering  fd 
Houfe.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  Confider  of  and  make  Report  to  this  Meeting  in  What 


153 

form  fd  Houfe  fliall  be  Covered  and  then  take  fuch  further  Inftrudions  from  fd  Meeting  as 
they  fliall  ^hink  Needful  to  Give  them  in  fd  Affair. 

January  29,  1759.  The  Queftion  being  put  Whether  the  Report  of  the  Com«««  for 
Repairing  the  Meeting  Houfe  brought  into  this  meeting  dated  Jany  23,  1759  fliall  be  ac- 
cepted. It  paffed  in  the  Negative. 

Voted  that  the  Comtee  ....  are  Impowered  to  Repair  the  Roof  and  Body  of 
the  fd  Meeting  Houfe  by  Patching  the  fame  Where  it  Needs  as  foon  as  Conveniently  May 
be  at  the  Precindls  Coft. 

April  i,  1763.  Voted  That  Jofiah  Dwight  Efq.  Dean  Nath1  Brewer  and  Dean  Jon- 
athan White  be  defired  to  give  us  their  advife  about  Repairing  our  meeting  houfe  or  build- 
ing a  new  one.  Voted  that  John  Hale,  Dean  Nath1  Ely  and  Jonathan  Stebbins  be  a 
Comtee  to  inform  the  above  fd  Gentn  of  this  vote,  and  defire  them  to  lend  us  their 
Affiftance  in  fd  afair  and  To  Reprefent  the  fame  Unto  them  and  obtain  their  Judgment 
thereon. 

The  result  of  this  advice  seems  to  have  been  the  building  of  a  new  Meet- 
ing-House, and  the  passage  of  this  final  vote  after  its*  completion,  in  respect 
to  the  old  one : 

January  6,  1769.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  Chofen  for  Building  the  New  Meeting  Houfe 
be  Impowerd  to  Difpofe  of  the  Old  Meeting  Houfe  for  the  ufe  of  the  Precinct  in  fuch  time 
and  manner  as  they  fliall  think  beft. 

THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF   THE  OLD  SQUARE  PEWS 

in  the  first  Meeting-House  seems  to  have  been  a  delicate  matter  and  the  occa- 
sion of  no  little  discussion  : 

March  7,  1748.  Voted  that  the  two  hind  feats  in  the  meeting  houfe  be  taken  up  and 
in  the  room  of  them  to  make  three  pews. 

November  i,  1749.  Voted  to  Chufe  a  Comtee  to  build  three  Pews  at  the  Lower  End  of 
the  body  of  the  Seats  in  Ye  Meeting  hous  according  to  a  former  vote  made  in  that  Affaire 
to  wit  Simon  Colton,  Deacon  Burt  and  David  Burt  2nd  ware  the  men  that  ware  chofen. 

November  i,  1749.  Votted  to  chufe  a  committee  to  build  three  pews  at  the  Lower  End 
of  the  body  of  the  Seats  as  was  agreed  on  by  a  former  vote ;  and  Simon  Colton,  Deacon 
Burt  and  David  Burt  2nd  be  the  comtee  as  aforefd  and  to  make  Ufe  of  half  a  foot  of  the 
Alley  for  that  purpofe. 

December  4,  1749.  Voted  to  Raife  the  Sum  often  pounds  old  tenor  to  be  Laid  in  the 
Treafury  for  contingent  Charges  out  of  which  to  pay  the  charge  of  building  the  pews. 

December  4,  1749.  Voted  that  the  middle  pew  that  is  to  be  maid  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  body  of  the  meeting  houfe  be  for  the  ufe  of  the  Revnd  Mr  Williams  family  and  that 
this  pew  be  raifed  five  or  fix  inches  from  the  flore  not  exceeding  fix  inches. 

March  5,  1754.  Voted  that  There  be  Three  Pews  Built  in  the  Body  of  the  Meeting 
Houfe  Adjoyning  to  the  Pews  Laft  Built  there  at  the  Charge  of  the  Precindl  and  that  three 
Seats  through  Adjoyning  as  aforefd  be  granted  for  the  Ufe  of  Building  f4  Pews  and  an  Ally 
for  Conveniency  to  Go  into  them. 

March  25,  1754.  Voted  that  Simon  Colton  and  Deacon  Nathel  Burt  be  Joyned  to  John 
Hale  Caleb  Cooley  and  Deliverance  Atchinfon  who  were  Chofen  a  Comtee  March  5th 
1754  to  Build  Three  other  Pews  in  the  Body  of  fd  Houfe  and  that  the  before  Named  Per- 
fons  be  a  Comtee  to  Build  the  whole  of  fd  Pews  in  the  Body  of  fd  Houfe. 


154 

March  25,  1754.  Voted  that  there  be  Three  Pews  Built  in  the  Body  of  the  Meeting 
Houfe  Adjoyning  to  the  Alley  by  the  Pulpit  in  the  Room  of  the  foremoft  Seats  there  at 
the  PrecincVs  Coft  and  that  fd  Pews  be  Shaped  and  Situated  and  Built  by  a  Comtee  to  be 
Chofen  for  that  Purpofe. 

March  24,  1755.  Voted  That  the  Committy  be  Defired  to  Raife  the  Benches  in 
thofe  Pews  in  the  Meeting  Houfe  where  they  are  needed  at  the  Charge  of  the  Precinct. 

THE  SEATING  OR  "  DIGNIFYING  " 

of  the  Meeting-House,  was  also  the  occasion  of  numerous  votes,  and  of  more 
or  less  jealous  feeling : 

March  12,  1716.  Voated  that  the  Seats  for  the  Women  fhould  be  on  the  Weft  fide  of 
the  Meeting  hous. 

October  26,  1730.  Voated  :  to  chufe  a  Comtee  to  value  the  meeting  hous  feats.  Voated 
that  the  pew  that  is  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  Great  Dores  fliall  be  for  the  improvement  of 
the  minifters  family  to  fit  in. 

November  2,  1730.  The  Comtee  chofen  to  Dignifie  the  feetts  in  the  meeting  hous 
brougt  in  a  map  in  to  the  precindtt  of  there  Doings  which  was  excepted  by  a  voat  with 
alterations  which  map  lies  in  the  Clerk's  office.  Voted  to  chufe  nine  men  as  a  comtee 
to  feat  the  meeting  hous. 

December  4,  1749.  At  this  meeting  the  featers  prefented  a  Lift  of  there  Seating  to  the 
precinct  which  was  not  excepted  but  voted  that  the  feators  aforefd  take  the  work  into  their 
own  hands  again  having  no  regard  to  what  is  already  done  as  to  their  former  work  but  to 
Doom  the  feats  as  they  think  beft  and  to  feat  the  meeting  houfe  as  they  think  proper. 

April  8,  1754.  At  a  Precindlt  meeting  Thomas  Blifs  2nd  was  Chofen  Moderator  After 
Confideration  and  Debate  the  Queftion  was  Put  Whether  the  Meeting  Would  Nullifie  the 
Vote  Paft  at  the  Laft  Meeting  April  IIth  1754  to  accept  the  Report  of  the  Comtee  Chofen 
to  Seat  the  Meeting  Houfe  Refolved  in  the  Negative. 

November  20,  1769.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  be  Defired  to  wait  on  the  Rev.  Mr 
Williams  and  Know  His  Pleafure  what  Pew  in  the  Meeting  Houfe  He  Choofes  for 
his  Family  to  Sit  in. 

November  20,  1769.  Voted  That  Meffers  Moses  Field,  Jona  Stebbins,  Dean  Nath1 
Ely,  Jona  Hale,  Sam1  Colton  2nd  Dean  Colton  and  Jona  Burt  2nd  be  a  Comtee  to  feat  the 
Meeting  Houfe  and  Make  Report  to  this  Meeting. 

February  19,  1799.  Voted  that  Wm  Colton  John  Hale  and  Nath1  Ely  be  a.  Jl  an  ding 
Comtee  to  provide  feats  in  the  meeting  houfe  for  any  perfons  who  are  or  may  come  into 
town  and  fhall  defire  fuch  feats  or  for  any  new  married  people  who  fhall  alfo  defire  fuch 
feats  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Meeting  Houfe. 

THE  BEATING  OF  A  DRUM 

was,  for  many  years,  the  somewhat  incongruous  appointed  signal  of  assem- 
bling for  public  worship,  as  appears  by  numerous  votes  similar  to  the  following  : 
May  i,  1722.  Lefntt  Colton  being  chofen  moderator  for  fd  meeting  itt  was  Voated  to 
have  a  fign  of  beetting  the  Drum  for  Seafonable  afembling  on  the  Sabbath  for  the  Space 
of  one  year  and  thatt  the  Comtee  fhould  take  the  care  to  provide  the  fign  as  aforfd  on  the 
charge  of  the  precin&t. 


155 

By  an  entry  in  the  Committee  Book  it  appears  that  this  vote  was  immedi- 
ately carried  out  by  the  Committee  : 

June  12,  1722.  Then  the  Comtee  agreed  with  Nath1  Bliss  Jr.  to  beat  the  Drum  every 
Sabbath  day  from  this  date  till  the  twenty  fouth  day  of  March  next  Infewing  this  date  for 
ye  sum  of  ten  /hillings. 

April  i,  1724.  It  was  voated  to  have  a  fign  in  order  to  attend  the  public  worfliip  ot 
God  att  the  meeting  houfe,  and  it  was  Determined  by  Voat  that  the  Beet  of  the  Drum 
fhall  be  the  fign  for  this  prefent  year  and  that  the  Comtee  for  the  precinftt  fhall  Take 
Care  to  provide  the  fign  aforefd  on  the  charge  of  the  precinftt. 

January  7,  1729.  Voated  that  the  Comtee  Draw  outt  of  the  Treafury  the  mony  that 
was  expended  for  mending  the  Drum  if  it  be  there  to  find  :  and  be  Difpofed  of  to  Tim? 
Nash. 

THE  PURCHASE  OF  A  BELL 

was  a  matter,  the  consideration  of  which  seems  to  have  extended  over  a 
period  of  several  years  : 

April  19,  1728.  At  this  meeting  it  was  Determined  by  Voat  to  have  a  Bell  for  the 
meeting  hous  the  price  not  exceeding  the  fum  of  fifty  pounds  in  mony ;  and  alfo  voated  that 
the  Comtee  for  the  prudentiall  afairs  of  the  precinftt  fhall  take  the  care  to  make  inquiry 
where  a  Bell  may  be  had  and  for  what  price  and  to  make  Return  to  the  precinftt  of  what 
information  they  may  obtain  and  if  the  comtee  aforesd  can  find  a  meeting  hous  Bell  that  is 
convenient  and  fuitable  for  the  meeting  hous,  and  not  exceeding  the  price  of  fifty  pounds 
that  they  fhould  try  and  procure  itt  for  the  precinftt. 

November  3,  1742.  Voted  to  Raife  the  fum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  pro- 
cure a  meeting  houfe  Bell  for  the  ufe  of  the  precincT:  old  tennor,  100  <£  to  be  Raifed  this 
year  and  50  pounds  the  Next. 

November  3,  1742.  Voted  to  chufe  a  Comtee  to  Procure  a  Bell  as  aforefd  and  thofe 
that  ware  chofen  for  that  purpofe  ware  En  Stebbins  Mr  Nafh  and  Simon  Colton. 

January  10,  1743.  Voted  to  forbid  the  Comt««  Mr  En  Stebbins  Mr  Nafh,  and  Simon 
Colton  taking  any  further  care  or  pains  to  Procure  a  Bell  as  aforefd. 

January  5,  1744.  Voted  to  raife  the  fum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  publick 
bils  of  Credit  old  tenor  for  procuring  and  purchafing  a  meeting  hous  bell  as  aforefd.  Voted 
that  En  Stebbins,  Tim>"  Nafli  and  Simon  Colton  be  a  comt"  to  procure  the  Bell  aforefd. 

January  25,  1744.  At  a  precindlt  meeting  for  prizing  Grain  to  Defray  precinftt  charges 
and  for  granting  money  to  procuring  a  Meeting  Houfe  Bell  &c  Voted  to  Gitt  a  meeting 
houfe  Bell  for  the  use  of  the  precindtt. 

The  bell  was  certainly  procured  about  this  time,  for  in  the  Committee 
Book  appears  the  following  entry : 

December  6,  1744.  Upon  a  meeting  of  the  Comtee  we  agreed  with  Ebenr  Blifs  2nd  to 
ring  the  bell  for  one  year  on  the  Sabbath.  SAML  KEEP  JuNr.  EPHRAIM  COLTON  2nd. 

February  19,  1799.  [The  Town]  voted  that  MefTrs  Hezekiah  Hale  Elijah  Burt  and 
Nath1  Ely  Junr  be  a  Comtee  to  procure  a  new  Bell  for  the  meeting  Houfe  in  exchange  for 
the  old  Bell  or  otherwife  as  they  fhall  find  to  be  mod  advantageous  for  the  Town. 

August  29,  1803.  Voted  that  Jabez  Colton,  Capt  Ethan  Ely  and  Col.  Gideon, Burt  be 
a  Comtee  to  procure  the  Meeting  Houfe  Bell  to, be  recaft. 

December  13,  1808.  Voted  that  the  fum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  five  Dollars  be 
paid  out  of  the  money  in  the  Hands  of  the  Town  Treafurer  to  procure  for  the  Town  a  New 


156 

Meeting  Houfe  Bell  weighing  one  thoufand  one  Hundred  pounds  or  more,  provided  that  for 
that  fum  and  the  prefent  Meeting  Houfe  Bell,  and  alfo  with  the  money  which  may  be  obtained 
by  subfcriptions  from  individual  Perfons,  a  good  new  Meeting  Houfe  Bell  of  the  fd  uoo  lbs 
weight  or  more  {hall  be  procured  for  and  fhall  be  the  property  of  this  Town. 

May  i,  1809.  Voted  to  grant  the  fum  of  Fifty  dollars  to  procure  a  New  Meeting 
Huufe  Bell  in  addition  to  the  fum  of  $125  Granted  December  13,  1808. 

The  bell  having  been  rung  so  violently  as  to  crack  it  in  the  tumultuous 
joy  of  the  inhabitants  upon  the  declaration  of  peace  in  1815,  it  was  voted 

August  21,  1815,  that  the  Town  grant  the  fum  of  Seventy  five  Dollars  for  the  purpofe 
of  new  calling  the  Meeting  House  Bell  provided  a  fum  fliall  be  raifed  by  Subfcription  fuffi- 
cient  to  make  the  Bell  as  large  as  it  now  is. 

THE  SECOND  OR  NEW  MEETING-HOUSE. 

More  than  fifty  years  had  passed  from  the  commencement  of  the  building 
of  the  first  Meeting  House,  when  the  advice  of  the  three  Springfield  gentle- 
men, mentioned  on  page  153,  was  sought  concerning  the  advisability  of  its 
further  repair  : — that  advice  having  been  duly  given  and  considered, 

November  5,  1764.  the  Queftion  was  put  to  the  Meeting  whether  the  Precinft  would 
proceed  to  build  a  New  Meeting  Houfe  for  the  Publick  Worfhip  of  God,  and  it  was  voted 
in  the  Affirmative. 

November  30,  1764,  the  Queftion  was  Put  Whether  the  Precin£tt  would  Build  a 
Wooden  Houfe  for  the  Publick  Worrtiip  of  God,  and  it  was  voted  in  the  Affirmative. 
Voted  that  Dean  Aaron  Colton  John  Hale  and  Mofes  Field  be  a  Comtee  to  Inform  them- 
felves  of  a  Sutable  Deminfion  Both  Length  Width  and  Heighth  of  fd  Houfe — and  alfo  a 
Sutable  Deminfion  for  a  Steple  to  fd  Houfe  and  make  Report  to  this  meeting. 

December  6,  1764.  Voted  that  John  Hale  Cap*  Simon  Colton  and  Mofes  Field  be  a 
Comtee  to  make  Enquiery  and  Get  the  beft  Information  they  Can  the  Coft  of  a  Brick 
Meeting  Houfe  and  the  Coft  of  a  Wooden  Meeting  Houfe  and  make  Report  to  this 
meeting. 

February  20,  1765.  The  Queftions  were  Put  to  the  Meeting  Concerning  the  Meeting 
Houfe  Separately — Whether  the  Parrifli  would  Repair  the  Meeting  Houfe  or  Build  a  New 
One  5 — and  they'  Both  paft  in  the  Negative, 

March  18,  1765.  Then  the  Queftion  was  Put  (agreeable  to  the  Warrant)  to  the 
Meeting  (viz)  Whether  they  would  Repair  the  Meeting  Houfe  by  Covering  the  Outfide — 
and  it  PafTed  in  the  Affirmative. 

January  2,  1766.  Voted  That  the  Precindlt  of  Longmeadow  Build  a  Brick  Meeting 
Houfe  for  Publick  Worfhip  Meflrs  Nath1  Ely  2nd  Sam1  Colton  2nd  Mofes  Field  Jonathan 
Stebbins  John  Hale  Simon  Colton  and  Jofiah  Cooley  to  be  a  Comtee  To  Draw  up  fome 
Scheem  proper  to  Profecute  the  Above  vote  for  Building  a  meeting  Houfe  and  make  Re- 
port to  this  meeting.  , 

January  15,  1766.  The  Comteo  Repoart  was  accepted  and  it  was  voted  to  choofe  a 
Comtee  to  Profecute  the  Affair  of  Building  a  Brick  Meeting  Houfe. 

January  15,  1766.  Voted  that  the  Brick  to  Build  the  above  Houfe  be  made  on  the 
Enfueing  Summer  (as  Soon  as  the  Seafon  will  allow)  in  the  Country  Road  on  Wheel- 
meadow  Brook  and  That  the  Above  Comtee  Chofen  to  Carry  on  the  Building  fd  Houfe  are 
Defired  and  Directed  to  Imploy  any  Perfons  able  to  Work  (Belonging  to  fd  Precinftt)  that 


157 

are  Willing  to  Work  or  be  Imployed  in  fd  Buiffnefs  and  Give  them  for  their  Labour  Re- 
fpectively  According  to  their  Labour  in  the  Judgment  of  fd  Comtee. 

January  15,  1766.  Voted  that  the  Wood  to  Burn  fd  Brick  be  Provided  as  Soon  asfliall 
be  thought  Convenient  in  the  Judgement  of  fd  Comtee. 

January  15,  1766.  Voted  that  the  Stone  to  Lay  the  Foundation  of  fd  Building  be  Pro- 
cured in  the  moft  Cheap  and  Eafy  way  and  as  foon  as  Convenient  in  the  Judgement  of  fd 
Comtee. 

January  15,  1766.  Voted  that  all  Perfons  that  /hall  Labour  in  fd  affair  More  than  the 
Proper  Dividend  for  the  Refidue  fhal  be  Obliged  to  take  their  Pay  in  the  Produce  of  the 
Earth  viz  Grain  Hemp  Flax  Merchantable  bords  White  Pine  Shingles  Bief  and  Pork  at 
Current  Market  Price  and  that  fd  Comtee  Provide  good  Window  timber  for  fd  Houfe  as 
Soon  as  they  Shall  Judge  Convenient. 

February  26,  1766.  Voted  thai  the  Brick  Meeting  Houfe  Voted  to  beBuiltbe  55  foot  in 
Length  and  43  foot  in  Breadth  and  the  Brick  Wall  25  foot  High.  Voted  that  the  Steple 
of  fd  Hous  be  Built  with  Brick  14  foot  fquare  and  50  foot  in  Height.  Voted  that  the 
Comtee  Chofen  to  Provide  Materials  for  fd  houfe,  be  Directed  to*  Procure  a  Quantity  of 
Lime  in  the  beft  Manner  and  as  foon  as  they  ihall  Judge  Pioper. 

April  10,  1766.  Voted  that  the  vote  parted  Jany  15  1766  for  building  a  Brick  meeting 
Houfe  in  fd  Precinct  be  Reconfidered  Nullified"  and  made  Void  and  all  other  Votes  Rela- 
tive Thereto. 

April  15,  1766..  Voted  that  the  Prefent  Standing  Meeting  Houfe  be  Repaired — and 
That  Mofes  Field  Jofiah  Cooley  and  Dean  Aaron  Colton  be  a  Comteeto  Prosecute  fd  work. 
Voted  that  the  Comtee  be  and  are  Directed  to  Repair  fd  Houfe  by  Covering  the  outfide  by 
Shingling  the  Roof  and  Covering  the  Body  of  the  Houfe  and  Making  New  Windows  as 
the  Comt"  Shall  think  beft  as  foon  as  may  be. 

June  3,  1766.  Voted  that  Nehemiah  Stebbins  and  Eleazer  Smith  be  added  to  the 
Comtee  Chofen  at  this  Meeting  April  ioth  To  Profecute  the  Affair  of  Repairing  the  Meet- 
ing Houfe.  Voted  that  the  Money  Now  in  the  Prect  Treafury  be  appropriated  for  the 
ufe  of  Procuring  Materials  for  the  Repairing  the  Meeting  Houfe  and  be  Ordered  or  Drawn 
out  of  the  Treafury,  by  the  Precindr.  Comtee  as  Needed. 

September  18,  1766.  Voted  that  the  Parrifh  ihall  Build  a  New  Timber  Meeting  Houfe 
for  Publick  Worfhip. 

October  30,  1766.  Voted  That  the  Length  Wedth  and  Heighth  of  fd  Houfe  be  as 
follows  (viz)  Fifty  fix  foot  in  Length  and  Forty  Two  foot  in  Wedth  and  25  foot  Poft  and 
that  the  Steple  to  fd  Houfe  be  14  foot  fquare  and  54  foot  in  Heighth.  Voted  that  the 
Above  Comtee  be  Defired  to  Procure  the  Timber  for  fd  Houfe  in  the  Moft  Advantagous 
way  and  Manner  for  the  Precindt  and  Proceed  in  fd  Businefs  the  firft  moft  Convenient 
Seafon  for  Cutting  Timber — and  Alfo  Procure  all  or  any  other  Materials  NecefTary  for  the 
Building  fd  Houfe  in  the  Moft  Suitable  Convenient  and  Expeditious  Manner  According  to 
the  Judgment  of  fd  Comtee. 

November  24,  1766.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  chofen  for  Profecuting  the  Building  of  a 
Timber  Meeting  Houfe,  be  Defired  to  Draw  up  a  Plan  to  Profecute  the  affair  and  make  a 
Report  at  an  adjourned  Meeting. 

December  4,  1766.  And  the  Report  of  the  fd  Comtee  was  Read,  Confidered  »nd  the 
Question  Put  Whether  the  Meeting  Would  Accept  the  Same  and  it  was  accordingly  voted 
and  accepted  and  the  Sums  Therein  Mentioned  was  Voted  and  Granted  to  be  Raifed  for 
fd  Ufe  in  the  Manner  as  Exprefled  in  fd  Report  :  the  Report  of  the  Comtee  is  as  follows: 

Whereas  Wee  the  Subfcribers  are  Chofen  a  Comtee  to  Determine  and  Report  a  Plan  or 


158 

Scheem  of  Operation  to  Profecute  the  Building  of  a  Timber  Meeting  Houfe  for  Publick 
Worfhip  Report  as  follows  viz  that  the  Comtee  Chofen  to  Manage  fd  Affair  be  Defired  to 
Profecute  fd  Building  as  Soon  as  Poffibly  May  be  in  Procureing  Timber  Stone  and  all  other 
Material  NecefTary  for  fd  Houfe  in  order  that  fa  Houfe  with  the  Leave  of  Providence  may 
be  Setup  and  Covered  Next  Summer  and  that  the  PrecincT:  Raife  the  Sum  of  £67,  18,  in 
money  and  alfo  the  fum  of  £233  to  be  paid  in  Labour  Grain  Bief  Pork  Good  Merchant- 
able bords  White  pine  Shingles  at  the  Market  price.  All  to  he  under  the  Direction  of  the 
Comtee  who  are  to  Allow  Each  Perfon  for  his  Labour  in  fd  BuifTnefs  According  to  the 
Worth  Thereof  in  there  Judgement. 

SIMON  COLTON  JOHN  HALE  JONATHAN  STEBBINS  NATHL  ELY  2d  AARON  COLTON 
MOSES  FIELD  DAVID  BURT  3d,  Comt". 

November  28,  1766.  Voted  That  the  Affeffors  Affefs  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Precinct 
the  fum  of  £67-18  in  Monny  for  fd  Ufe,  and  the  Sum  of  £230  in  Labour  thereon  Accord- 
ing to  fd  Report  and  Order  the  Same  into  the  Treafury. 

June  2,  1767.  Voted  That  the  Meeting  Houfe  now  in  Building  be  Set  up  the  North 
Side  of  the  Old  Meeting  Houfe  as  near  as  Conveniently  may  be  and  that  fd  Houfe  be  fet 
the  Length  way  Eaft  and  Weft  with  the  Steeple  to  the  Weft.  Voted  that  the  Comtee 
Chofen  to  Profecute  the  Building  fd  Houfe  Hire  a  fuitable  Number  of  Men  to  Raife  fd 
Houfe  at  the  Charge  of  the  PrecincT:.  Voted  that  fd  Comtee  Provide  all  fuch  Refrefti- 
ments  Both  Victuals  and  Drjnk  for  fd  Building  as  they  fhall  think  Proper  at  the  Coft  of  fd 
Precind. 

March  9,  1768.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  for  the  affair  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  be  Defired 
to  Make  Enquiry  and  Get  the  Beft  Information  they  Can  Concerning  the  Building  the 
Top  of  the  Steple  of  fd  Houfe  Whether  by  Building  another  Square  or  Building  in  the 
Common  Form  and  Proceed  and  Finifh  fd  Steple  According  to  their  Judgement. 

April  5,  1768.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  Chofen  to  Build  the  Meeting  Houfe  be  Impow- 
ered  and  Directed  to  Order  the  Mony  out  of  the  Treafury  to  Defray  the  Charges  of  fd 
Houfe. 

The  Second  Meeting-House,  as  thus  finally  finished,  stood  without  impor- 
tant changes  for  more  than  half  a  century.  In  1828,  however,  an  extensive 
remodeling  took  place,  the  pulpit  being  removed  from  the  north  side  to  the 
east  end,  the  galleries  reconstructed  on  the  remaining  three  sides,  the  old 
square  pews  replaced  by  more  modern  slips,  and  the  exterior  porches  all 
removed.  As  thus  remodeled,  repainted,  and  gradually  provided  with 
blinds,  the  old  church  maintained  itself  for  nearly  another  half  century  as  a 
conspicuous  landmark  in  its  commanding  central  position  on  the  village  green. 
In  1874,  however,  to  meet  a  growing  public  sentiment,  and  to  obtain  the  ben- 
efit of  legacies  conditioned  upon  its  removal  from  this  position,  the  front  portion 
of  the  original  burying-ground  Grant  was  secured  as  a  new  site,  to  which  the 
still  staunch  and  strongly-knit  framework  of  the  old  edifice  was  removed,  and 
wholly  clothed  upon  with  new  beauty  under  the  advice  of  a  competent 
architect ;  the  result  being  a  gem  of  modern  church  architecture,  still  sacredly 
suffused  with  the  sentiment  and  associations  of  the  past,  and  giving  promise  of 
continued  service  for  at  least  another  half  century  period  to  come. 
So  endeth  the  story  of  the  Old  Longmeadow  Meeting-House. 


THE    REMODELED    LONGMEADOW  CHURCH    AND    THE    CHAPEL. 
A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE    OLD    BURYING-GROUND   IN  THE  REAR. 

ALL    AS    SEEN    FROM    TH  E    OLD    LANDLORD    BuRT    PL  ACS 

ON    THE    OPPOSITE    SIDE    OF    THE    STREET  ; 

NOW    OWNED    AND    OCCUPIED     BY 

MR.  JOHN   MoFsTHRiEs. 
DISTANCE  FROM  THE  GOTHIC  OATE-POSTS  TO  THE  CHURCH, 

ABOUT  FOUR   HUNDRED  FEET  ; 

FORMER  MEETING-HOUSE  SITE  MIDWAY 

THE  CHURCH  MOVED  TO  ITS  PRESENT  LOCATION  IN  1874. 


•  159 

MISCELLANEOUS  VOTES   RESPECTING  THE  MEETING- HOUSE  CARE 
might  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  covering  even  the  minutest  details  of  both 
the  sanctuary  and  its  services,  but  a  few  only  must  suffice  : 

February  20,  1765.  Voted  that  there  be  Some  Suitable  Perfon  Provided  Upon  the  Pre- 
cincT:  Coft  to  Inftruct  us  in  the  Art  of  Singing— And  that  Dean  Nath1  Ely  Ezra  Stebbins  and 
Eleazer  Smith  be  a  Comtee  to  Hire  Some  Perfon  for  fd  Purpofe  and  Have  the  Whole  Reg- 
ulation of  fd  affair,  and  order  the  Money  for  the  Payment  of  fd  Perfon  out  of  the  Treafury. 

May,  1792.  Voted  that  any  perfon  put  curtains  at  any  of  the  meeting  Houfe  windows 
if  it  be  his  pleafure. 

To  which  record  some  apparently  dissatisfied  scribe  has  added  the  comment, 
"  How  much  wifer  than  our  Fathers  were  !  " 

March  8,  1796.  Voted  that  it  is  the  Will  and  Direction  of  this  town  that  ten  o'clock 
be  the  time  in  the  forenoon  of  beginning  Publick  Worfhip  on  the  Lord's  Days  in  all  the 
Months  of  the  year  except  December  and  January  and  in  thofe  months  at  one  half  an 
hour  after  ten  ;  And  from  the  firft  day  of  April  to  the  firft  day  of  October  the  time  of  begin- 
ning in  the  afternoon  be  at  two  o'clock.  And  in  the  months  of  October  November  Feb- 
uary  and  March  at  one  half  an  hour  after  one  o'clock,  and  in  the  months  of  December  and 
January  at  one  o'clock.  Provided  neverthelefs  that  the  time  of  beginning  Publick  Worfliip 
in  the  afternoon  on  thofe  Sabbaths  on  which  the  Lord's  Supper  is  adminiftered  be  in  all 
the  months  at  two  o'clock.  Voted  that  the  Rev  Mr  Storrs  be  defired  to  give  notice  of  the 
aforefd  times  of  beginning  Publick  worfhip  at  the  different  feafons  of  the  year  and  the  per- 
fon who  fhall  ring  the  Meeting  Houfe  bell  is  hereby  directed  to  obferve  the  fame. 

November  4,  1811.  Voted  that  Lieu*  Wm  White  MaJ  Sam1  Williams  Jofiah  Cooley 
Jofeph  W.  Cooley  and  Dean  Ebenr  Burt  be  a  Comte°  on  behalf  of  the  Town  to  fee  that 
the  feveral  Pafs  ways  into  the  Aleeting  Houfe  fhall  not  be  encumbered  by  people  (landing 
idlely  in  them  and  thereby  rendering  it  inconvenient  for  people  paffing  in  and  out  of  the 
houfe  at  times  of  publick  meetings  on  Sabbaths  and  other  days.  Voted  that  the  beforefd 
Comtee  fhall  regulate  proceedings  at  funerals. 

May  i,  1815.  Voted  that  the  Comt"  chofen  to  provide  preaching  for  the  Eaft  Part  of 
the  Town  be  alfo  a  Comtee  to  confult  with  the  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs  on  the  propriety  of 
altering  the  time  of  the  intermifiion  on  the  Sabbath. 

April  6,  1810.  Voted  to  grant  the  fum  of  Fifty  Dollars  to  defray  the  expenfe  of  a 
Stove  fet  up  in  the  Meeting  Houfe. 

Upon  the  blowing  down  of  the  Church  spire  in  the  great  gale  of  1821  the 
Parish  voted  as  follows,  viz.: 

April  a,  1822.  Voted  to  repair  the  Spire  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  the  prefent  feafon. 
Alfo  that  a  Comtee  of  three  be  chofen  to  devife  and  prepare  a  plan  for  repairing  the  fame 
and  make  their  report  at  the  next  or  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Parish. 

May  6,  1822.  Voted  to  accept  the  report  of  the  Comtee  chofen  to  devife  a  plan 
for  repairing  the  Spire  to  the  Meeting  Houfe,  which  report  was  made  verbally  as  follows — 
viz  That  the  Spire  be  repaired  by  fplicing  the  fame  with  a  ftick  of  timber  fo  as  to  raife  the 
fame  as  high  as  it  was  before  it  was  broken  and  that  an  Iron  fpindje  be  put  in  the  Timber 
to  fix  the  weather  vane  upon — the  Vane  alfo  to  be  repaired  and  the  Spire  to  be  pawned  as 
far  down  as  the  walk.  Voted  that  the  Comtee  be  requefted  to  proceed  and  repair  the  Spire 
according  to  their  report.  Voted  to  grant  the  fum  of  one  hundred  dollars  to  defray  the 
expenfe  of  repairing  the  Spire  to  the  Meeting  Houfe. 
21 


i6o 


GROUND-FLOOR  OF  THE  OLD  MEETING-HOUSE,  LONGMEADOW,  MASS. 


SMALL   BOYS. 


SMALL  GIRLS. 


GALLERY  OF  THE  OLD  MEETING-HOUSE,  LONGMEADOW,  MASS. 


l62 

VOTES  IN  REGARD  TO  SCHOOL  MATTERS 

abound  throughout  the  Precinct  and  Town  Records.     A  few  selections  are 
made : 

September  30,  1714.  Voated  to  Gitt  or  have  a  fchool-mafter  to  Teach  or  Learn  our  chil- 
dren to  Read  and  Write,  perfuant  to  a  vote  of  the  Town  bearing  date  May  30,  1706.  It 
was  furder  voated  that  the  prefent  Cornt80  for  the  prudential  affairs  of  y"  precinct  fliould 
take  care  to  provide  futch  a  fchoolmafter  for  us  as  aforfd  voted. 

Which  is  supplemented  by  the  following  agreement  from  the  Committee 
Book : 

Whereas  the  town  of  Springfield  have  given  liberty  for  the  inhabitants  of  Longmeadow 
to  git  a  Schoolmafter  to  teach  there  children  to  Read  and  Write,  and  alfo  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Longmeadow  have  ordered  the  Comtee  for  management  of  the  prudential  affairs  of 
the  precinct  that  they  provide  fuch  a  fchoolmafter  from  time  to  time.  According  to  fd 
vote,  with  ye  approbat'un  of  the  Selectmen  of  the  town  of  Springfield  we  doe  agree  with 
Mr  James  Gareld  to  keep  the  fchool  in  Longmeadow  for  the  fpace  of  half  a  year  from  the 
date  hereof — and  for  his  faithfully  attending  the  work  of  Schoolmafter  in  Longmeadow  for 
the  fpace  aforefd  wee  promife  to  give  him  the  fum  of  fifteen  pounds  in  own  pay — or  eleven 
pounds  ten  millings  in  money — of  which  as  the  town  of  Springfield  pleafe,  unto  the  true 
performance  of  which  we  do  fet  our  hands  this  nineteenth  day  of  March.  1717. 

JAMES  GERALD.  NATH'   BURT  2nd  SAML  KEEP  THOMAS  BLISS  2nd. 

The  following  vote  preceded  the  building  of  the  Old  Brick  School-House, 
so  familiar  to  all  Longmeadow  people  during  the  first  half  of  the  present 
century  : 

March  8,1791.  Voted  that  the  new  School  Houfe  (of  the  middle  Diftrict)  be  fet  35 
rods  fouth  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  in  the  middle  of  the  ftreet.  Voted  to  Grant  the  fum  of 
£12,0  to  the  Middle  School  Diftrict  for  the  purpofe  of  building  a  houfe  for  the  ufe  of 
fchools  and  other  occafional  purpofes  of  the  Town. 

The  proper  care  of  the  school  fund  derived  from  the  donation  of  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Burt,  often  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Precinct : 

December  18, 1751.  At  a  Precinct  Meeting  Dean  Jonathan  Ely  was  Chofen  Modera- 
tor. Voted  that  Mr  Stephen  Keep  be  impowered  to  Make  Serch  for  and  bring  to 
the  Meeting  (If  it  can  be  found)  a  Certain  Deed  from  Mr  Nath1  Burt  Decd  to  the  Pre- 
cinct of  Longmeadow  of  a  Tract  of  Land  in  fd  Precinct  Called  the  School  Lot. 

December  19,  1751.  Voted  that  Jonathan  Stebbins  Clerk  of  fd  Precinct  Be  Impow- 
ered to  Put  on  Record  in  the  County  Regifter,  at  the  Coft  of  the  Precinct  a  Deed  of  Gift 
from  Mr  Nath1  Burt  Decd  of  Twenty  Acres  of  Land  Towards  the  Support  of  the  School 
in  the  Precinct  of  Longmeadow.  Voted  that  Ebenr  Blifs  Sam1  Keep  and  Simon  Colton 
be  a  Comtee  to  Enquire  into  and  See  upon  What  Terms  the  School  Lot  in  fd  Precinct  May 
be  Leafed  for  and  Make  Report  to  Some  future  Meeting. 

December  5,  1755.  Voted  that  Enfn  Simon  Colton  Dean  Nath1  Ely  and  Jonathan  Steb- 
bins Serg1  Sam1  Keep  and  John  Hale  Junr  be  a  Comtee  to  fell  and  difpofe  of  the  School 
Land  Given  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Precinct  of  Longmeadow  for  the  Support  of  a  School 
forever  by  Mr  Nath1  Burt  decd  and  fd  Cornt"  are  Impowered  to  give  Proper  Conveyances 
and  Security  for  fd  Land  in  the  Name  and  Behalf  of  the  Precinct  and  Take  Good  aad 
Sufficient  Security  in  the  Name  of  fd  Precinct  for  fd  Land  for  the  ufe  of  a  fund. 


163 

February  20,  1756.  Voted  that  the  Bonds  taken  for  the  Security  of  the  money  the 
fchool  land  was  fold  for  be  in  the  Name  and  Lodgd  in  the  Hands  of  Mr  Jona  Stebb8 
Treasurer  for  the  ufe  of  the  Precinct  and  the  Intereft  of  fd  money  to  be  difpofed  of  by 
f"  Precinct  from  time  to  time  according  to  the  true  Define  thereof  as  they  ftiall  think 
beft. 

March  24,  1757.  Voted  that  Dean  Nath1  Ely  be  Collector  and  Receiver  of  the  Intereft 
Money  Due  to  the  Precinct  of  Longmeadow  by  Vertue  of  the  fale  of  the  fchool  land 
Given  to  the  Precinct  by  Mr  Nath1  Burt  Decd  and  that  the  fd  Collector  Pay  out  the  Same 
from  time  to  time  as  the  Precinct  Comtee  Shall  Direct  for  the  ufe  of  the  School  in  fd  Pre- 
cinct. Voted  that  the  Bonds  Given  for  the  Security  of  the  aforefd  Money  to  and  in  the 
Name  of  Jonathan  Stebbins  Treafur  for  the  Ufe  aforefd  and  One  Bond  Given  to  Cap1 
Simon  Colton  and  Lieu*  Nath1  Ely  for  the  Ufe  aforefd  Be  all  Lodged  in  the  Care  of  the 
Aforefd  Nath1  Ely. 

April  7,  1800.  Voted  to  choofe  a  Comtee  of  five,  Viz  Jabez  Colton  Jolhua  Trafk 
Thos  Huntington  Hezekiah  Hale  and  Ethan  Ely,  whofe  duty  it  mall  be  at  convenient 
times  to  vifit  the  feveral  fchools  and  attend  to  their  regulations,  and  alfo  fee  that  no  teacher 
keeps  a  fchool  for  any  confiderable  time  without  their  approbation  and  the  approbation  of 
the  minifter  of  the  Town,  as  well  qualified  to  keep  fuch  a  fchool  as  the  fd  teacher  ap- 
proved engages  to  keep.  Voted  that  to  excite  an  Engagednefs  for  Learning  the  Comtee 
chofen  to  infpect  fchools,  by  order  of  the  felectmen  be  allowed  out  of  the  Town  Treafury 
a  fum  of  money  not  exceeding  feven  Dollars  to  purchafe  proper  Premiums  to  be  beftowed 
as  honorary,  upon  fuch  fchollars  who  ftiall  make  the  beft  progrefs  in  the  feveral  Branches 
of  Learning  during  the  Term  in  which  any  fchool  is  kept. 

THE  CHANGE  FROM  PRECINCT  TO    TOWN  ORGANIZATION 

was  not  effected  without  prolonged  agitation,  and  against  the  usual  opposition 
in  such  matters.  The  earliest  record  upon  the  subject  is  the  following  from 
the  Precinct  Book,  some  thirty  years  after  the  Precinct  incorporation  : 

"At  a  Precinct  meeting  April  1741  to  Receive  the  Repoart  of  a  Comtee  Chofen  to 
Confider  whether  it  is  beft  to  have  this  precinct  Set  of  a  Diftinct  Town  three  of  the  Comtee 
aforefd  being  prefent,  they  Report  that  it  was  the  minds  of  the  Comtee — al  things  confid- 
erd — not  to  perfew  that  afaire  at  prefent.  Which  Report  was  excepted  by  the  Precinct." 

This  seems  to  have  settled  the  matter  for  another  period  of  thirty  years, 
when,  in  1772,  an  agitation  was  again  revived,  which  resulted,  after  ten 
years,  in  the  desired  change. 

February  10,  1772,  a  meeting  was  held  "to  fee  Whether  the  Precinft  Were  Defirous 
to  be  fet  off  from  the  Town  of  Springfield  as  a  Diftinct  Town  or  Diftrict  with  all  the 
Priviledges  of  a  Town  or  Diftrict  by  Law  with  Such  Bounds  as  they  Now  have  as  a  Par- 
rifhj  alfo  Such  proportion  of  Moneys  in  the  Town  Treafury  or  any  Other  Matter  or 
Things  Relating  thereto  as  is  Common  or  Reafonable  in  Such  Cafes ;  and  It  Pafled  in  the 
affirmative.  A  Comtee  was  chofen  to  Prepare  and  Prefer  a  Petition  to  the  Town  of  Spring- 
field for  that  Purpofe  at  the  Next  Annual  March  Meeting. 

March  27,  1772.  Voted  that  there  be  a  Comtee  Chofen  to  Prefer  a  Petition  to  the 
Great  and  General  Court  of  the  Province  to  Pray  fd  Court  to  Set  oft"  the  Parrifh  of  Long- 
meadow  in  Springfield  from  f"  Town  a  Diftinct  or  Separate  Town  or  Diftrict  and  Proceed 


164 

in  f1  Affair  as  to  Time  and  Manner  According  to  their  beft  Judgment.  Cap*  Simon  Col- 
ton,  Dean  Nath1  Ely  Dean  Aaron  Colton  Enfn  Sam1  Williams  and  Jona  Stebbins  were 
Chofen  a  Comtee  for  f"  Purpofe. 

April  9,  1773.  Voted  that  Dean  Nath1  Ely,  Cap*  Simon  Colton,  and  Dean  Aaron  Col- 
ton  Be  a  Comt"  to  wait  on  the  Comtee  Chofen  by  the  Town  of  Springfield  to  look  into 
and  Confider  the  Circumftances  of  the  town  and  Reprefent  to  fd  Cornt"  the  Situation  that 
we  in  this  Parifh  ftand  in  to  the  Town  in  Order  that  Longmeadow  May  be  Set  off  from  fd 
Town  as  a  Separate  Town  or  Diftridil. 

December  13,  1773.  The  Queftion  was  Put  whether  the  Precinct  were  Defireous  to 
be  Set  off  from  the  Town  of  Springfield  a  Diftindl  Town  or  Diftrict.  And  it  was  Voted 
in  the  Affirmative. 

December  31,  1773.  Voted  That  the  Precindtt  Make  Application  to  the  Great  and 
General  Court  of  this  Province  at  their  Next  Sefiions  That  the  Precindt  of  Longmeadow 
be  Set  off  from  the  Town  of  Springfield  as  a  Diftindt  Town  or  Diflridt  in  Such  Mode  and 
form  as  Shall  be  Agreed  Upon.  Voted  that  Enfn  Sam1  Williams,  Jona  Hale  Junr  David 
Burt  3rd  Dean  Aaron  Colton  and  Dea"  Nath1  Ely  be  a  Comtee  to  Profecute  fd  affaire. 

January  19,  1774.  Voted  that  Two  Men  More  be  Added  to  the  above  Comtee  and 
That  Jona  Stebbins  and  Jona  Burt  2nd  be  of  the  f"  Comtee.  Voted  that  fd  Comtee  be 
Impowered  and  Directed  to  Take  all  Such  Advice  and  Counfel  to  Conduct  in  fd  Affair  as 
they  Shall  find  Neceffary  from  time  to  Time. 

January  31,  1774.  Voted  to  accept  the  Springfield  vote  of  Jan^  17,  1774  viz  that  'the 
Town  Confent  that  the  Third  Parrifh  in  Springfield  be  fet  off  as  a  Diftincl  Town  or  Dif- 
trift  With  the  Limmits  as  they  now  enjoy  as  a  Parrifh,  they  too  take  their  proportionable 
part  of  the  poor  in  the  Town  and  their  part  of  the  flock  of  Monies  or  Securities  for  money 
in  the  Town  Treafury.  Excepting  Four  hundred  pounds  Voted  to  be  appropriated  or  raifed 
in  fd  Town  for  the  building  of  bridges  acroft  Agawam  River  and  Chicopee  River.'  A 
Comtee  was  chofen  to  prefent  this  petition  to  the  General  Court ;  alfo  voted  to  "  fend 
one  agent  from  Amongft  ourfelves." 

February  i,  1774.  Voted  that  the  vote  paffed  in  the  Meeting  Jan>"  31,  1774  To  fend 
an  Agent  from  Amongft  ourfelves  to  Prefer  our  Petition  to  the  General  Court  the  Prefent 
Sefiions  be  and  is  reconfidered.  Voted  That  the  Comtee  Chofen  to  Profecute  the  Above 
Affair  be  Impowered  and  Defired  to  Employ  Coln  BenJ  Day,  as  an  Agent  to  Prefer  the  P»ti- 
tion  fd  Comtee  have  Prepared  to  fend  to  the  General  Court  the  Prefent  Seffion. 

March  1 6,  1774.  The  Queftion  was  put  whether  the  Parifh  were  Still  Defirous  to  be 
Set  off  from  the  Town  of  Springfield  and  it  Paffed  in  the  Affirmative. 

November  20,  1775.  Voted  that  we  will  Prefer  a  Petition  to  the  Great  and  General 
Court  Praying  that  we  may  be  Set  off  a  Separate  Town  or  Diflridl  from  the  Town  of 
Springfield.  Voted  to  Choofe  a  Comt"  to  Prefer  the  aforefd  Petition.  Voted  that  this 
Comtee  Confift  of  three  Persons.  Voted  that  Cap1  Simon  Colton  Dean  Aaron  Colton  and 
Jona  Hale  Junr  be  fd  Comt". 

During  the  stress  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle  the  agitation  seems  to  have 
been  suspended  but  in 

August  23,  1781,  the  Queftion  was  put  whether  the  Meeting  are  Defirous  that  this 
Parifh  mould  be  Set  off  a  Separate  Town  from  the  Town  of  Springfield  and  it  paffed  in 
the  affirmative.  Voted  to  afk  the  Town  if  they  will  confent  that  the  Parifh  of  Long- 


i65 

meadow  be  made  a  Separate  Town.  Voted  that  we  will  prefer  a  Petition  to  the  General 
Court  praying  that  the  Parifh  of  Longmeadow  be  made  a  Separate  Town. 

August  23,  1781.  Voted  to  Choofe  a  Comtec  or  Agents  to  Tranfact  the  Matter  of 
Getting  off  both  in  Town  and  at  the  General  Court. 

October  13,  1783.  Voted  that  Jona  Hale  Junr  Lieu1  Nath1  Ely  and  Jona  Burt  z".d  be 
the  Comtee. 

P 

Which  is  the  last  vote  recorded  before  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Town 
incorporation. 

The  following  memorandum  among  the  papers  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr., 
the  representative  of  Longmeadow  at  that  time  at  the  General  Court,  gives  a 
hint  of  the  opposition  then  made  to  the  change,  and  of  the  grounds  of  that 
opposition  : 

"  Objection  Ist  That  the  Petitioners  by  Accident  or  Define  Omitted  to  Produce  a  Coppy 
of  f51  Petition  and  the  Order  thereon.  2nd  the  II  Pollicy  of  Dividing  Towns.  3'?  that  it 
will  be  a  Damage  to  the  Gramer  Scholls.  4'y  that  the  Diftance  from  one  to  Another 
is  not  Greater  than  is  Common  between  Parifhes.  $ly  Altho  the  meatings  have  Com- 
monly been  held  in  the  firft  Parifh,  they  are  willing  to  hold  them  a  Proportionable  Part  of 
the  Time  at  Longmeadow.  that  6'J"  the  Population  Eaft  of  the  Street  Can  Attend  meat- 
ings  as  well  at  the  firft  Parish.  7^"  that  Sum  of  them  are  Oppofed  to  a  Divifion.  8'y 
that  the  Lands  are  Better  in  Longmeadow  than  in  tRe  Other  Pariflies.  9'?  that  the  Refpond- 
ants  are  Traders  and  the  Petitioners  are  Farmers." 

The  following  is  the  vote  by  which  the  Precinct  of  Wilbraham  had 
already  been  accorded  permission  to  be  set  off  if  the  General  Court  should 
see  "  fitt :  " 

March  10,  1740.  Voted  that  the  feveral  perfons  and  families  belonging  to  the  precindl  of 
Longmeadow  Settled  on  the  Eaft  part  of  Springfield  called  the  outward  Commons  be  fet 
off  a  Diftinct  precindl  for  the  benefit  of  the  Gofpel  miniftry  and  other  privileges  belonging 
to  precinfts  whensoever  the  Honour*  General  Court  of  the  province  of  the  Maflachu- 
fetts  Bay  fliall  think  fitt  and  proper  upon  application  made  to  them. 

THE  BROAD  -AND  BEAUTIFUL  LONGMEADOW  STREET 

has  been  at  different  times  the  subject  of  many  votes,  showing  how  narrow 
has  been  its  escape  from  the  most  serious  encroachments,  .urged  in  the  inter- 
est of  individuals,  or  even  of  the  public  itself.  It  may  surprise  some  to  learn  that 
the  present  central  section  of  park-like  sward  was  originally  a  long  sand-drift, 
— similar  to  many  now  found  in  the  wood-belt  eastward, — and  that  this  was 
reclaimed  and  converted  into  its  present  verdure  by  a  process  of  enrichment 
and  cultivation  extending  over  several  years,  carried  on  by  a  citizen  (Capt. 
Calvin  Burt),  who  was  permitted  for  that  purpose  temporarily  to  enclose  a 
long  section  of  the  street.  The  northern  half  of  this  same  central  section 
was  also  by  town -permission  occupied  for  many  years  by  a  central  series  of 
shops,  stores,  and  manufactories,  under  forty-year  leases,  in  the  sarhe  way 
that  the  front  portion  of  the  Burying-Ground  grant  was  permitted  to  be 


1 66 

occupied  by  a  blacksmith's  and  a  wheelwright's  shops.  These  last,  unfortu- 
nately, by  unchallenged  occupancy  for  more  than  forty  years,  gained  finally 
a  title  to  the  land  itself  which  it  cost  the  Parish  several  hundred  dollars  to 
extinguish  when  this  corner  was  desired  as  a  site  for  the  remodelled  Church 
edifice  in  1874.  Fortunately  the  danger  was  earlier  discovered  in  regard  to 
the  Main  Street  leases,  and  the  removal  of  all  those  buildings  was  secured  at 
the  expiration  of  the  lease-term ; — while  a  sentiment  of  jealous  and  loving 
care  now  exists  which  would  make  their  renewal  forever  impossible.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  street  votes  referred  to  : 

November  22,  1787.  Voted  that  the  Town  Confent  that  Stephen  Cooley  have  two 
rods  wide  out  of  the  ftreet  acrofs  his  home  Lot  in  order  to  fet  a  Houfe  on. 

December  8,  1789.  Voted  the  Town  Confent  that  Mr.  Jabez  Colton  have  a  piece  of 
Land  out  of  the  ftreet  to  fet  a  Houfe  on  Near  Henry  Coltons  late  Deceafed  if  the  Court 
fee  fit. 

March  1 6,  1790.  Voted  that  Dean  Nath1  Ely  and  Nath1  Ely  Junr  have  the  confent  of 
the  Town  to  Extend  their  fence  into  the  ftreet  ten  feet  from  the  Meadow  Gate  to  the  Brow 
of  the  hill  in  front  of  their  Home  Lots. 

May  3,  1791.  Voted  to  give  Rev.  Mr.  Storrs  a  deed  of  the  [miniftry]  land  which 
was  fold  him  by  the  Town  if  he  will  p^y  £40.  Lawful  Money  for  the  fame  with  Intereft 
from  the  3rd  of  May  1791. 

April  2,  1792.  Voted  to  choofe  a  Comtee  to  fell  or  leafe  all  or  any  of  the  Town  Lands 
— that  faid  Comtee  be  impowered  to  give  good  and  lawful  deeds  of  the  fame,  they  fecuring 
the  Town  for  the  Payment,  that  Meflrs  Jabez  Cotton.  Lieu*  Nath1  Ely  and  Col  Gideon 
Burt  be  fd  Comtee. 

September  2,  1793.  Voted  that  this  town  give  their  Confent  thatthe  Court  of  Sefiions 
fhould  grant  to  certain  Perfons  for  the  term  of  forty  years  who  will  undertake  to  build  fhops 
for  the  ufe  of  Mechanicks,  the  following  Tract  of  Land  in  the  County  Road  in  Long- 
meadow,  being  feven  Rods  in  length  and  three  Rods  in  Width,  the  North  End  of  faid  Tract  to 
be  fo  far  South  of  the  New  Brick  School  Houfe  as  to  be  in  an  Eaft  and  Weft  Line  Parallel  with 
the  North  fide  of  Sam1  Coomes  Home  Lot.  and  the  length  tp  be  from  North  to  South  in  a 
line  parallel  with  the  Street,  and  to  be  fo  laid  as  to  be  at  equal  Diftances  from  either  fide  of 
the  Street.  Voted  that  the  Selectmen  be  directed  to  make  fale  of  the  old  Brick  School 
Houfe  to  the  beft  Advantage  for  this  Town.  Voted  that  the  town  give  their  confent  that  the 
Court  of  Seflions  Grant  for  the  term  of  forty  years  to  any  perfon  or  perfons  who  fliall  pur- 
chafe  fd  Houfe  the  following  tract  of  Land — Viz  the  Ground  on  which  the  fd  Houfe  now 
ftandeth  together  the  fpace  of  the  width  of  the  Houfe  extending  twenty  feet  north  and  a 
space  extending  sixteen  feet  eaft  of  f  Houfe.  Voted  alfo,  that  the  Selectmen  ftay  the  fale 
of  the  fd  Houfe  till  they  fliall  know  the  determination  of  the  Court  of  Seflions  refpecting 
the  grant  of  the  Land. 

February  1 8,  1794.  Voted  to  reconfider  a  vote  pafied  April  2  1792  Empowering  Jabez 
Colton  Col  Gideon  Burt  and  Lieu*  Nath1  Ely  a  comtee  to  fell  or  leafe  any  or  all  of  the 
Town's  lands  that  the  fame  be  null  and  void. 

Marrh  4,  1794.  Voted  that  Robert  Silcocks  have  the  Towns  confent  to  improve  a 
tract  of  Ground  in  the  Street  too  feet  long  and  30  feet  in  breadth  to  begin  10  feet  north  of 


1 67 

the  Hatter's  (hop  for  the  purpofe  of  erecting  a  building  for  carrying  on  the  Duck  Manu- 
factory and  that  the  Town  confent  fd  Silcocks  improve  this  ground  for  the  fpace  of  forty 
years. 

February  17,  1795.  Voted  that  Cap'  Calvin  Burt  have  the  Confent  of  this  Town  to 
take  up  a  piece  of  Ground  thirty  feet  Square  beginning  fix  feet  fouth  of  the  Hatter's  (hop 
and  to  extend  weft  in  a  Parallel  Line  of  fd  (hop  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  Store  to  pro- 
mote the  Commercial  Interests  in  the  Town.  Voted  that  Eliab  Wafliburn  have  the  Con- 
fent of  this  Town  to  improve  a  piece  of  Ground  in  the  Street  of  thirty  feet  Square  next 
north  of  Rob'  Silcock's  Duck  Manufactory  Houfe  for  the  Purpofe  of  erecting  a  Hatter's 
(hop  on  the  fame.  Voted  that  Jabez  Colton  have  the  Confent  of  this  Town  to  occupy 
a  piece  of  Ground  in  the  Street  Thirty  feet  Square  next  north  of  the  Ground  purpofed 
to  be  occupied  by  Eliab  Wafhburns  fd  Ground  to  be  improved  by  fd  Colton  for  erecting  a  (hop. 
,  This  point  seems  to  mark  the  awakening  of  the  town  to  the  danger  from 
such  leases,  for  we  find  no  further  votes  of  this  nature  after  the  following  : 

April  6,  1795.  Voted  that  this  meeting  do  reconfider  the  vote  paffed  FebJ'  17,  1795 
granting  liberty  to  Jabez  Colton  to  build  a  (hop  in  the  Street. 

The  necessity,  however,  which  the  people  coming  from  the  East  Part  for 
Sabbath  service  experienced  for  having  suitable  horse-sheds,  caused  the  fol- 
lowing among  other  votes  : 

February  16,  1796.  Voted.  That  this  Town  Confent  that  Sundary  of  the  Inhabitants 
of  the  Eaft  part  of  this  Town  have  liberty  to  erect  an  Horfe  Houfe  in  the  Meeting  Houfe 
Lane,  and  that  Meffrs  Ethan  Ely,  Hezekiah  Hale,  Elijah  Burt,  David  Burt,  and  Sam1  Keep  be 
a  Comt"  to  view  the  Ground  and  reporfwhat  place  in  Said  Lane  will  be  the  moft  Suitable 
for  Said  Horfe  Houfe. 

March  8,  1796.  Voted  that  the  People  in  the  Eaft  Part  of  this  Town  have  liberty  to 
erect  an  Horfe  Houfe  on  the  North  fide  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  lane  fixty  feet  in  length  and 
Said  Horfe  Houfe  to  adjoin  the  fence  of  Mr.  Sam1  Williams  and  to  extend  as  far  toward 
the  Main  Street  or  Country  Road  as  to  be  parallel  with  the  Eaft  fide  of  Said  Williams  Up- 
right Houfe. 

THE  PRECINCT  RIGHTS  IN  THE  SPRINGFIELD  MEETING  AND  SCHOOL  HOUSES 
which  they  had  abandoned  in  becoming  a  separate  Precinct,  are  the  subject  of 
occasional  solicitude  : 

January  23,  1718.  Voated  to  Chufe  Sum  men  to  undertake  in  behalf  of  the  precinft 
to  Confult  and  inquire  for  advice  and  Councel  as  to  the  precindYs  proceeding  to  petition  the 
Town  for  Some  alowance  or  Recompenfe  for  our  Right  in  the  Meeting  hous  and  School 
hous. 

February  10,  1719.  Voated  to  chufe  fum  men  to  petition  the  Town  in  behalf  of  the 
precinft  for  fome  allowance  for  our  Right  in  the  Meeting  hous  and  School  hous  in  the 
Town  plot. 

March  9,  1719.  Voated  to  chufe  sum  men  to  petition  the  Town  in  behalf  of  the  pre- 
cincl:  for  fum  alowence  outt  of  the  Town  Treafuery  towards  building  a  fchool  hous  in 
Longmeadow  and  too  to  petition  the  Town  platt  together  with  Chickapuay  and  Skijpmuck 
Deftincl  from  the  other  precindls  for  fum  alowence  for  our  Right  in  the  Meettmg  hous  in 
the  Town  platt  aforefd ;  and  thofe  thatt  ware  chofen  for  that  purpofe  ware  Ens"  Sam1 
Keep  Lefutt  Joseph  Cooley  Lefntt  Ephraim  Colton. 
22 


i68 

THE  CALL  AND   MAINTENANCE  OF  DR.  WILLIAMS, 

— the  first  and  only  Precinct  Pastor, — was  the  occasion  of  an  interesting 
series  of  votes,  evidencing  no  little  caution  on  the  part  of  both  Pastor  and 
Precinct: 

September  30,  1714.  Voted  to  call  a  Learned  and  Orthodox  Minifter  to  Difpenfe  the 
Word  of  God  to  us  this  Winter  in  Order  to  a  Settlement  among  us.  It  was  furder  voted 
that  the  prefent  Comtee  fhould  take  care  to  provide  a  Learned  and  Orthodox  Minifter  for 
us  as  fpeedy  as  may  be — and  in  the  Firft  place  to  Take  Advife  of  the  Elders  in  order  to  pro- 
cure one  fuitable  for  us. 

February  10,  1715.  Furder  Voated  to  have  a  meeting  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  precinft 
on  the  firft  Monday  in  March  next  infuing,  at  1 1  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  the  Meeting- 
hous,  to  call  the  Revd  Mr  Stephen  Williams  in  the  Ministry  among  us. 

Mirch  7,  1715.  Voated  that  the  Revd.  Mr  Stephen  Williams  fhould  be  our  Minifter  to 
Difpenfe  the  ordinances  of  Chrift  to  us — it  was  furder  voated  to  Give  the  Revd  Mr  Wil- 
liams aforefd  the  Aim  of  fifty  five  pounds  for  this  prefent  year ;  and  if  God  in  his  provi- 
dence Continue  him  in  the  Miniftry  among  us,  to  Add  as  we  are  able,  and  his  fircum- 
ftances  May  Require.  Furder  voated  that  the  one  half  of  his  Rate  for  the  prefent  year 
fhall  be  paid  him  in  April  next  infuing,  and  the  other  half  by  November  next  infewing. 
Furder  voited  to  fence  and  break  up  three  or  four  acers  of  Land  this  Spring  for  an 
Orchard  for  Mr  Williams  aforef1,  in  the  horn  Lott  that  he  fhall  chufe. 

May  4,  1715.  Voated  to  givs  the  Revd  Mr  Stephen  Williams  for  his  fettlement  the 
Aim  of  two  hundred  pounds  befides  His  yearly  Salary  to  be  paid  him  in  four  years  time 
from  this  prefent  Date — viz  :  fifty  pounds  the  year  if  God  in  His  providence  Settle  him  in  the 
Miniftry  among  us.  It  was  furder  voated  that  the  two  horn  Lets  on  the  Hill — viz  the  Min- 
ifter and  Miniftry  fhall  be  fenced  out  backward  from  the  ftreet  forty  Rods  and  Thomas^ 
Haile  and  Sam1  Colton  were  chofen  to  take  Care  to  Overfee  and  Gary  forward  the  work 
aforefd  and  to  profccute  the  former  voat  made  concerning  the  Land  above  mentioned. 

January  17,  1716.  Voated  to  give  Mr.  Williams  the  Aim  of  fifty  five  pounds  yeerly  for 
the  term  of  five  years,  and  then  to  Add  five  pounds  per  yeer  until  we  make  it  feventy 
pounds  for  his  yeerly  fallery — and  furder  voated  for  ten  yeers  If  his  Neceflity  Calls  for  it 
and  then  to  pay  him  half  his  Rate  in  Grain  at  Curent  Mony  price. 

February  28,  1716.  Voated.  that  at  the  end  of  Eight  years  from  May  4,  1715,  then  to 
add  to  Mr  Williams  Sallary  (which  will  then  be  Seventy  pounds)  five  pounds  per  annum — 
this  prefent  Voat  not  to  invalidate  the  former  Voat  made  Jan  17.  i7i6.  It  was  Voated 
that  the  prefent  Comt"  for  the  precinft  fhould  go  and  treat  with  Mr.  Williams  Concern- 
ing his  fettling  heer  in  the  Miniftry. 

September  3,  1716.  Voated  that  the  Ordination  of  the  Revd  Mr  Stephen  Williams 
fhould  be  on  October  17th  next  infuing.  furder  Voated  to  have  a  day  of  fafting  and 
prayer  on  the  fourth  day  of  October  next  infuing.  It  was  furder  Voated  to  fend  a  Letter 
of  Requeft  to  the  Revd  Mr  Williams  of  Deerfield,  to  the  Rev*"  Mr  Williams  of  Hatfield 
and  to  the  Revd  Mr  Howard  Mr  Tailor  Mr  Brewer  and  Mr  Woodbridge  to  be  afliftants 
at  the  Ordination.  Furder  Voated  that  Sam1  Keep  fhould  make  fuitable  provifion  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  Revd  Elders  and  other  gentlemen  that  may  be  here  prefent — and 
is  to  have  five  pounds  alowed  him  by  the  precincl  herefor.  Furder  Voated  to  make  apli- 
cation  to  the  Quarter  Seffions  that  Nath1  Blifs  Junr  might  have  Liberty  to  make  provifion 
for  Entertaining  of  Strangers  and  others  that  may  be  prefent  at  the  Ordination. 


169 

The  salary  of  Mr.  Williams  having  thus  been  fixed  at  £55,  one-half  to 
be  paid  in  April  and  half  in  November,  with  £200  of  settlement  money  to 
be  paid  at  the  rate  of  £50  per  annum  for  four  successive  years,  the  follow- 
ing extracts  from  the  Committee  Book  will  show  the  formal  steps  in  carrying 
out  the  vote  for  the  first  year  : 

April  15,  1717.  The  Cornt"  of  Longmeadow  Precinct  met  viz  Cap4  Tho"  Colton 
Nath1  Blifs  Senr  Ephraim  Colton  Jofeph  Colton  Senr.  We  gave  order  to  the  Afleflbrs  to 
Raife  a  Rate  of  Eighty  one  pounds  four  {hillings  and  eight  pence  81-04-08  Seventy  feven 
pounds  and  ten  /hillings  for  ye  Revd  Mr  Stephen  Williams  and  ye  remainder  of  fd  money 
to  defray  ye  charge  of  our  Meeting  hous.  December  17,  1717.  Att  a  meeting  of  ye 
Comtee  order  was  given  by  ye  Comtee  to  ye  Treasurer  Mr  Sam1  Colton  to  pay  feventy  feven 
pounds  ten  /hillings  out  of  ye  Treafury  to  y"  reverend  Mr  Stephen  Williams — fifty  pounds 
of  it  for  his  fettlement  and  twenty  feven  pounds  ten  fhillings  for  half  years  salery. 

Numerous  votes  are  from  time  to  time  recorded  of  additional  sums 
granted  to  Mr.  Williams  on  account  of  sickness  in  his  family,  or  of  the  high 
prices  of  provisions,  showing  no  little  liberality  in  the  dealings  of  the  Pre- 
cinct with  their  Pastor.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Committee  Book  con- 
tains many  autograph  signatures  of  the  Pastor  to  such  releases  in  full  as  the 
following  : 

"March  the  19  1722  Att  a  meeting  of  the  Comtee  of  Longmeadow  Precinct,  viz. 
Lieu'  Ephraim  Colton  Enfn  Sam1  Keep,  Sam1  Stebbins,  Then  Reckoned  with  ye  Revd  Mr 
Stephen  Williams  from  Nov.  ye  26,  .1721  and  Due  to  ye  Precinft  from  him  four  pounds, 
two  Ihillings  and  three  pence.  I  acknowledge  this  reckoning —  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS." 

"Whereas  ye  Inhabitants  of  Longmeadow  Precin6l  made  a  vote  March  ye  7.  1720  to 
'  add  to  my  Salerv  five  pounds  pr.  year  for  ye  Term  of  four  years  from  this  prefent  Date  in 
order  to  procure  me  fier  Wood  which  Vote  amounts  toye  fum  of  Twenty  pounds,  in  which 
ye  Precinct  overcharged  themfelves  five  pounds  I  Doo  therefore  upon  ye  receipt  of  fifteen 
pounds  of  ye  Wood  money  mentioned  in  ye  vote  acquitt  and  difcharge  ye  PrecincT:  from  any 
further  payment  Relating  to  that  vote.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS." 

Nov.  8.  1723. 

"  Att  a  meating  of  the  Comt"  of  the  Precinftt  April  20,  1725  The  Revd  Stephen  Wil- 
liams gave  the  following  difcharge  to  the  Precinflt. — April  20,  1725  I  acquitt  and  difcharge 
the  precinftt  of  long-meadow  of  all  that  is  my  due  from  them  to  the  fourth  of  May  1725 
as  witnefs  my  hand.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS." 

All  of  which  shows  thrifty  caretaking  upon  both  sides. 

From  the  Proprietors'  Book  of  Records  is  also  extracted  the  following 
entry  of  this  date,  well  illustrating  the  same  point  : 

April  29,  1718.  Att  a  meeting  of  ye  proprietors  of  ye  Inward  Commons  affembled  ac- 
cording to  Law  it  is  voted  and  granted  to  give  to  the  Revd  Mr  Stephen  Williams  of  the 
Precindtt  of  Longmeadow  upon  the  condition  that  he  quits  and  Relinquifhfs  all  Right  of 
Claim  and  Intereft  and  Improvement  to  any  of  ye  Ministry  Land  in  ye  Township  of  Spring- 
field then  he  fliall  have  ys  Improvement  of  the  Town  Land  in  Longmeadow  fometimes 
called  Longmeadow  Commons  as  it  is  lying  within  the  field  fence  for  the  term  of  10  years, 
he  continuing  and  carrying  on  ye  work  of  the  Miniftry  there  in  fd  Longmeadow  and  If  it 


I/O 

prove  to  be  of  more  value  yearly  than  his  fhare  or  proportion  of  ye  Improvement  of  y 
Miniftry  Land  aforefd  then  to  allow  and  pay  fo  much  more  as  it  is  efteemed  at  to  the  fd 
Town  of  Springfield.  (Attest)  INCREASE  SIKES  proprietors  Clerk. 

Springfield  ffeb  2.6t!l  17  -|^  at  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Inward  Commons 
Affembled  according  to  Law The  Revd  Mr  Stephen  Williams  defired  the  pro- 
prietors to  Refolve  the  matter  how  they  did  underftand  their  vote  of  Aprill  28  1718  Re- 
fpedYmg  his  Relinquifhing  his  Right  to  the  Miniftry  Land  in  the  Townfhip  of  Springfield 
as  fet  forth  therein.  Voted,  that  we  underftand  Mr  Williams  Relinquifhed  his  Right  to 
the  Miniftry  Land  fo  Long  and  no  Longer  than  he  improves  the  fd  Land  called  the  Com- 
mons in  Longmeadow.  (Atteft)  INCREASE  SIKES,  proprietor's  clerk. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Precinct  period,  however,  there  are  some  salary 
appropriations  which  seem  indicative  of  a  liberality  as  astonishing  as  it  was, 
to  that  date,  unprecedented.  The  large  salaries  of  some  favored  city  clergy- 
men at  the  present  day  shrink  into  insignificance  compared  with  the  appro- 
priation of  the  Longmeadow  Precinct,  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  of 
four  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  for  a  single  year's  salary  of  Dr.  Williams : 

Att  a  Parifh.  Meeting  Legally  affembled  on  the  8th  of  Decr  1780  at  the  Brick  School 
Houfe  Majr  Gideon  Burt  Chofen  Moderator.  Voted  to  Choofe  a  Comtee  to  Repoart  How 
Dr  Williams  fhall  be  paid  his  Salary.  Voted  that  Dean  Ely  Majr  Gideon  Burt  Jona  Hale, 
Jona  Hale  Junr  be  fd  Comtee.  Voted  this  meeting  be  adjourned  half  an  hour  then  to 
meet  at  this  Place.  The  Meeting  Met  according  to  Adjournment. 

Granted  to  the  Revd  Dr  Williams  for  his  falary  the  Prefent  year  £4500-0-0  Old 
Continental  Currency. 

Granted  to  Mary  Blifs  to  make  good  for  her  fweeping  the  Meeting  Houfe  two  years  ago 
the  fum  of  Twenty  Pounds — £20-0-0. 

Voted  to  raife  the  fum  of  Five  hundred  Pounds  for  contingant  charges  out  of  which  the 
fervices  Done  lo  the  Meeting-Houfe  as  Ringing  Bell  fweeping  and  Tending  Clock  are  to 
be  paid — £500-0-0. 

Voted  that  the  fum  of  Five  thoufand  Ninety  Nine  Pounds  Four  fhillings  be  affefed  on 
the  Poles  and  Ratable  Eftate  of  this  Parifh  and  ordered  into  the  Treafury  by  the  Fourth 
Day  of  May  next  and  that  the  fame  be  ordered  out  by  the  Parifh  Comtee — £5099-0-0. 

At  a  Meeting  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Parifh  of  Longmeadow  Legally  affembled  at  the 
Brick  School  Houfe  15th  March  1781  Majr  Gideon  Burt  Moderator.  Price  of  Grains  for 
the  payment  of  the  Revd  Dr  Williams  Salary  the  present  year 

Viz  Indian  corn  @  38  Dollars  per  bufhel.  Rice     @  50  Dollars  per  bufhel. 

Wheat  @  84     do.  do.  Barley  @  50      do.  do. 

Oats  @  24     do.  do.  Pease   @  84      do.  do. 

THE  CALL  OF  PASTOR  STORKS, 

early  in  the  town  period,  was  preceded  by  the  following  series  of  votes, 
showing  that  the  same  habits  of  caution  still  governed  the  people  as  at  the 
time  of  Dr.  Williams'  settlement : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  thf:  Town  Duly  Qualified  and  Legally  affembled  at 
the  Meeting  Houfe  Tuefday.  the  19th  day  of  July  1785.  it  was  voted,  that  the  Meeting 
are  Defirous  that  Mr  Richard  S.  Storrs  be  defired  to  continue  with  us  and  to  Settle  with 


us  in  the  Gofpel  Miniftry — that  the  Meeting  will  proceed  to  Make  Propofals  of  Settle- 
ment and  Salary  to  the  fd  Mr  Storrs — and  to  Choofe  a  Comtee  to  draw  up  Said  propofals 
for  the  Meeting  and  that  Mr  Jona  Hale.  Dean  Nath1  Ely.  Jona  Burt  Cap*  Gideon  Burt, 
Cap1  Mofes  Field  Wm  Colton,  Cap'  Ebenr  Colton  and  Jona  Hale  Junr  be  fd  Comtee  and 
make  Repoart  of  their  proceeding  to  this  or  fome  future  Meeting. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting.  Aug  2.  1785  It  was  Voted.  That  the  Incouragement  Re- 
poarted  by  the  above  Commit"  to  be  made  to  Revd  Mr  Storrs  in  order  to  Incourage  him 
to  Settle  with  us  be  accepted  and  be  the  Incouragement  to  propofe  to  him. 

Aug.  29,  at  a  meeting  ftill  further  adjourned  it  was  voted  that  the  former  Comtee  to  wait 
on  Mr  Storrs  be  Defired  again  to  wait  on  him  and  to  Inform  him  that  the  Town  Defire 
him  to  Return  to  us  again  as  foon  as  May  be. 

The  Repoart  of  the  Comtee  to  Draw  up  propofals  to  Make  to  Mr  Storrs  was  that  we 
will  Grant  him  £200  Settlement  and  £90.  Salary  Yearly,  one  half  to  be  paid  in  the  fev- 
eral  Species  or  kinds  of  Grain  at  the  Current  Mony  Price  to  be  Priced  by  the  Town  at  a 
Meeting  Called  for  that  purpofe  in  the  month  of  February.  And  further  Voted  to  Give 
him  all  the  ufe  and  Improvement  of  the  Miniftry  Land  in  the  Town  and  alfo  voted  to 
Give  him  Twenty  four  cords  of  wood  Yearly.  Sixteen  of  it  Oak.  and  Eight  of  it  Pine — 
which  Repoart  was  Read  and  Voted  to  be  accepted. 

The  zi.  day  of  Nov,  1785,  at  a  meeting  called  to  receive  the  Repoart  of  a  Comitee  to  wait 
on  Mr  Richard  Storrs  and  Get  his  anfwer  whether  he  is  Determined  to  Settle  with  us  in 
the  Gofpel  Miniftry  Alfo  to  See  if  the  Meeting  will  make  any  addition  or  alteration  in 
the  Terms  before  propofed  to  Mr  Storrs  or  Make  any  grant  of  a  Sum  or  fums  of  Money 
for  Settlement  or  Salary  they  shall  think  Proper,  it  was  voted  that  at  the  Expiration  of 
Five  years  from  the  Time  of  Mr  Richard  S.  Storrs  Ordination  there  be  added  to  his  Salary 
the  Sum  of  Five  Pounds,  and  at  the  End  of  five  years  more  the  fum  of  Five  Pounds 
more.  Making  in  the  whole  at  the  End  of  Ten  years  from  the  time  of  his  Settlement  Ten 
Pounds  addition  and  Six  cords  of  Wood  more  which  after  the  Last  Mentioned  Time  will 
be  One  Hundred  Pounds  and  Thirty  Cords  of  Wood.  Voted  that'Wednefday  the  7th  day 
of  December  next  be  the  Day  for  Mr  Storrs  Ordination.  Voted  that  a  Comtee  of  Five  be 
chofen  to  Make  Provifion  for  the  Ordination  Council  and  that  Lieu4  Nath1  Ely.  Lieu1 
Hez«  Hale  Mr  Jofiah  Cooley.  Cap*  Mofes  Field  and  Cap'  David  Burt  be  Said  Comt««  and 
that  all  Needful  Expenfes  arifing  on  account  of  said  Ordination  be  Defrayed  at  the  Charge 
of  the  Town. 

The  actual  settlement  of  the  account  for  these  needful  expenses  seems  to 
have  been  somewhat  delayed,  for  November  1 1,  1793,  it  was 

Voted  to  grant  to  Dean  Nath'  Ely  Eight  Pounds  five  Shillings  and  fixpence  for  Entertain- 
ing and  keeping  the  Ordaining  Council  of  Revd  Mr  Storrs.  Voted  alfo  to  grant  him  One 
Pound  eight  (hillings  and  ten  pence  half  penny  for  intereft  of  the  above  fum  feven  years 
at  3  per  cent. 

PREACHING  IN  THE  EAST    PART 

occasionally  engages  the  attention  of  the  Town,  specimen  votes  of  which 
are  given  : 

April  2,  1804.  Voted  that  this  Town  will  procure  Preaching  for  fix  Sabbaths  in  the 
prefent  year  in  the  Eaft  Part  of  the  Town  and  that  Elijah  Burt.  Cap*  Ethan  Ely  and  Jabez 


1/2 

Colton  be  a  Comte<s  to  procure  a  preacher  for  that  purpofe — Either  to  fupply  in  the  Meeting 
Houfe  that  Mr  Storrs  might  go  thither  or  to  be  employed  in  faid  Eaft  Part. 

November  3,  1806.  Voted  to  grant  the  fum  of  One  hundred  and  Thirty  pounds  for 
payment  of  the  Salary  of  Revd  Richard  S.  Storrs  the  year  Enfuing.  In  paffing  this  Vote 
the  Moderator  obferved  that  the  Revd  Mr  Storrs  was  willing  in  confequence  of  the  Addi- 
tional grant  to  preach  Sundry  Sabbaths  in  the  Eaftern  part  of  the  town  when  his  pulpit 
might  be  supplied  by  occafional  Help. 

THE  BAPTIST  ORGANIZATION 

and  its  relation  to  the  standing  order  was  the  occasion  of  some  solicitude  at 
various  times,  as  witness  such  votes  as  the  following : 

May  2,  1808.  At.this  meeting,  the  Petition  of  John  Endicot  and  others  being  read 
citing  this  Town  to  make  anfwer  to  faid  petition  if  they  fee  caiife — which  petition  prays 
the  General  Court  to  incorporate  the  Petitioners  into  a  Baptift  fociety — Voted  that  Cap1 
Ethan  Ely,  the  Reprefentative  of  the  Town  to  the  General  Court  fhall  on  behalf  of  the 
Town  make  fuch  anfwer  to  faid  Petition  in  the  General  Court  as  he  in  his  difcretion  fhall 
think  Proper.  Voted,  that  the  teacher  of  the  Baptifts  in  the  South  Eaft  part  of  this  Town 
may  receive  of  the  Town  Treafurer  the  Minifter's  Taxes  paid  by  thofe  who  attend  their 
meetings  the  Tax  granted  laft  November.  Provided  the  felectmen  fhall  think  it  to  be 
their  duty  according  to  the  Laws  of  this  Commonwealth  to  order  the  fame  to  be  paid 
to  him. 

November  7,  1808.  Voted  that  if  any  of  the  Denomination  of  Chriftians  called  Bap- 
tifts in  this  Town  is  defirous  that  the  Money  which  they  fhall  pay  to  this  Town  for  the 
Minifters  Tax  the  enfuing  year  fhould  be  applied  to  the  Teacher  on  whom  they  attend,  and 
fhall  certify  fuch  their  defire  to  the  Selectmen,  and  fhall  produce  to  them  a  Certificate 
Signed  by  their  Teacher  and  a  Comtee  of  their  Society,  certifying  that  they  feverally  belong 
to  their  Said  Society  and  frequently  and  ufually  when  able  attend  their  faid  meetings  for 
religious  worfhip,  then' the  Selectmen  fhall  order  to  be  paid  out  of  the  Town  Treafury  to 
their  faid  Teacher  a  Sum  equal  to  their  feveral  minifters  Taxes  paid  to  this  Town  for  the 
year  enfuing. 

The  proposal  to  make  various  additions  and  repairs  upon  the  Meeting- 
House  of  the  Standing  Order  in  1810,  and  to  provide  for  the  expenses  from 
sundry  town  funds  formerly  raised,  but  not  expended,  for  building  a  Poor 
House,  taken  in  connection  with  this  jealousy  between  the  Bapiists  and  the 
Standing  Order,  gave  rise  to  an  amusing  series  of  votes  and  counter-votes 
respecting 

A  CHURCH  PORCH. 

November  5,  1810.  Voted  that  Col  Gideon  Burt  Dean  Walter  White  and  Noah  Bliss 
be  a  comtee  to  confider  of  the  Bufinefs  of  Building  a  Porch  on  the  Eaft  End  of  the  Meet- 
ing Houfe. 

May  6,  1811.  Voted  that  Cap'  Ethan  Ely,  Dean  Walter  White  and  Noah  Blifs  be  a 
Comtee  to  build  or  contract  for  building  a  Porch  on  the  Eaft  End  of  the  Meeting  Houfe, 
and  for  painting  or  contracting  for  painting  the  faid  Meeting  Houfe  as  they  fhall  think 
beft,  and  that  the  expenfe  of  Building  faid  Porch  and  painting  faid  Houfe  be  paid  out  of 
the  property  in  the  Hands  of  the  Treafurer  called  the  Poor  Houfe  Fund. 


173 

June  24,  1811.  Voted  to  grant  to  the  Baptift  Society  In  this  Town  fome  part  of  the 
property  which  has  been  appropriated  to  the  purpofe  of  building  a  Poor  Houfe  in  propor- 
tion to  what  the  Town  fhall  expend  in  repairing  the  Meeting  Houfe  out  of  faid  fund. 

July  4,  1811.  Voted  to  reconfider  that  part  of  a  vote  pafTed  by  the  Town  May  6,  1811 
fo  far  as  it  relates  to  building  a  Porch  on  the  Eaft  End  of  the  Meeting  Houfe,  and  apply- 
ing Money  for  that  purpofe.  Voted  to  reconfider  a  vote  paffed  June  24,  1811  granting  to 
the  Baptift  Society  in  this  Town  fome  part  of  the  property  which  has  been  appropriated  for 
building  a  Poor  House. 

July  2.6,  1811.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Longmeadow  largely 
afsembled  in  the  school  houfe  in  the  fouth  eaft  part  of  the  Town  Voted  to  build  a  Porch 
on  the  Eaft  End  of  the  Meeting  Houfe  in  the  Street  [89  for.  83  again8*.] 

The  explanation  of  this  peculiar  place  of  meeting  and  of  the  entry  of  the 
number  of  votes  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  "  Street"  people  being  a  little  dila- 
tory in  their  attendance,  and  the  Baptists  by  previous  concert  unusually 
prompt,  the  latter  adjourned  the  meeting  to  their  own  remote  locality,  hoping 
thereby  to  have  a  numerical  majority  in  attendance  and  so  carry  their  point. 
The  "  Streeters,"  however,  getting  wind  of  the  plan,  rallied  in  force  and 
barely  carried  their  own  point ; — but  using  their  hardly-won  victory  with 
fairness  and  moderation,  as  will  be  seen,  the  result  was  an  equitable  adjust- 
ment of  the  entire  controversy  : 

Voted  to  appropriate  money  for  that  purpofe  out  of  what  has  been  heretofore  appropriated 
for  the  purpi>fe  of  building  a  houfe  for  the  Toivn's  Poor — but  Voted  to  excufe  the  Baptifts 
and  any  others  if  fuch  there  be  in  the  Town  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Standing  Order 
of  Chriftians,  from  bearing  any  part  of  the  expenfe  which  may  accrue  from  painting  and 
repairing  faid  Meeting  houfe  or  building  f^id  Porch.  Alfo  Voted  that  the  Comtee  hereto- 
fore chofen  to  build  a  Porch  to  the  Meeting  Houfe  proceed  in  the  bufinefs  of  their  appoint- 
ment to  build  the  fame. 

May  3,  1813.  Voted  that  the  Treafurer  be  and  hereby  is  directed  to  pay  out  of  Monies 
or  property  in  his  hands  belonging  to  the  Town  a  fum  fufficient  to  pay  what  may  be  defi- 
cient in  the  poor  houfe  fund  to  pay  the  Comtee  bill  for  a  Porch  on  the  Eaft  End  of  the 
Meeting  Houfe  and  other  work  about  faid  houfe  and  alfo  to  pay  a  fum  which  was  voted  to 
be  paid  to  the  Baptift  Society  in  proportion  to  the  Money  expended  about  faid  Houfe. 

"THE  POOR-HOUSE  FUND," 

referred  to  so  frequently  in  the  preceding  series  of  votes,  appears  by  other 
votes  of  previous  years  to  have  be'en  not  really  a  Meeting-House  Fund,  as 
these  votes  might  seem  to  imply,  but  sundry 

"  Notes  belonging  to  the  Town  in  the  hands  of  its  Treafurer,  and  appropriated  for  the 
purpofe  of  building  an  Houfe  for  the  maintenance  and  employment  of  the  Poor — viz  one 
note  for  $233-34cts  given  by  Wm  Pynchon  Esqr — one  note  for  $100.  given  by  the  Uni- 
ted States — one  note  for  $35— I5cts  given  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Maflachufetts  and  one 
other  note  for  $12— 33cts  given  alfo  by  faid  Commonwealth,  together  with  the  intereft 
which  may  be  due  on  faid  notes  or  Money  which  may  be  received  for  them." 

The  Poor-House  seems  never  to  have  been  built,  however,  and  the  funds 


174 

to  have  remained  in  the  Town  Treasury  under   the    above  designation  until 
expended  upon  the  Meeting-House  Porch,  as  before  described. 

The  following  is  the  vote  preliminary  to  the  organization  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  for 

THE  MINISTERIAL  FUND, 

derived  from  the  sale  of  the  old  ministry  lands. 

Nov.  5,4804.  Voted  that  Jabez  Colton,  Aaron  Crane,  Capt.  Gideon  Burt,  Capt. 
Ethan  Ely,  Capt.  Calvin  Burt,  Major  Alexander  Field,  and  Lieutenant  Hezekiah  Hale  be 
a  Committee  to  look  into  the  Propriety  of  having  feme  perfons  incorporated  for  the  purpofe 
of  holding  and  managing  a  fund  to  be  applied  for  the  maintenance  of  a  Minifter  of  the 
Gofpel  in  the  firft  Society  in  this  Town;  in  a  manner  fimilar  to  many  incorporations  in 
Societies  within  this  Commonwealth. 

The  wide  range  of  discussion  and  action  in  a  New  England  village  Town 
Meeting  is  well  illustrated  in  the  following,  among  other  votes  in  the  national 
excitement  which  preceded  and  attended  the  war  of  1812.  The  footprints 
of  the  State  Capital  seemed  the  natural  standard  by  which  to  gauge  the  village 
step  as,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  the  two  presented  their  united  protest  against 

THE  EMBARGO  ACT. 

4 

August  29,  1808.  Voted  to  fend  a  Petition  to  the  Prefident  of  the  United  States  for 
the  removing  the  Embargo  Law.  Voted  that  this  Petition  be  in  form  and  words  conform- 
able to  a  like  Petition  from  the  Town  of  Bofton  inserting  Longmeadow  infted  of  Bofton, 
and  omitting  the  fecond  fentence  in  the  third  Section  of  fd  Petition.  Voted  that  the  Se- 
lectmen in  behalf  of  this  Town  tranfmit  this  Petition  to  the  Prefident  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  Embargo  Act  was  promptly  repealed  by 
Congress  the  year  following  this  vote  of  Longmeadow  ! 

That  this  wholesale  appropriation  of  the  Boston  Petition  was  not,  however, 
due  to  any  home  incapacity,  is  demonstrated  by  the  following  series  of  original 
resolutions  adopted  a  few  years  later  upon  the  same  general  subject : 

June  29,  1812.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Longmeadow  legally 
aflembled  in  faid  town  on  Monday  the  twenty  ninth  day  of  June  i8iz  for  purpofes  ex- 
preffed  in  the  warrant  iffued  for  calling  this  meeting,  which  fee  in  the  files.  Cap*  Ethan 
Ely  was  chofen  and  prefided  as  moderator.  The  meeting  being  unufually  full  the  follow- 
ing Refolves  being  prefented  were  read  and  unanimoufly  voted  firft  by  Paragraphs  and  then 
as  a  whole  and  voted  alfo  that  the  fame  be  entered  on  the  Publick  Records  in  the  Town 
and  that  the  Printer  at  Springfield  be  requefted  to  publi/h  the  fame  in  the  Hampfhire 
Federalift. 

Refolved  that  it  is  at  all  times  the  Right,  and  at  times  of  imminent  danger  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  people,  peaceably  to  aflemble  to  confult  for  the  common  good,  and  to  addrefs  the 
Legiflature  by  remonftrance  and  petition  for  a  redrefs  of  Grievances  ;  and  that  we  confider 
all  who  attempt  to  infringe  this  right  and  the  freedom  of  Speech,  as  enemies'  to  the  moft 
eflential  interefts  of  the  People. 


Refolved  that  we  confider  Embargoes  and  the  whole  Syftem  of  meafures  Reftraining  the 
Commerce  of  the  United  States,  as  inconfiftent  with  the  principles  of  the  Conftitution — 
as  extremely  injurious  to  this  Commonwealth,  and  by  diminifhing  the  funds  and  refources 
of  the  nation  as  rendering  the  people  lefs  able  to  fuftain  the  burden  of  War. 

Refolved,  that  while  we  admit  that  there  may  be  extraordinary  emergencies  when  the 
legislative  Bufinefs  of  the  Nation  ought  to  be  tranfadted  with  clofed  doors  ;  yet  we  fee  with 
pain  this  courfe  purfued  by  Congrefs  without  fuch  aparent  neceflity,  and  feel  alarmed  that 
while  difcufling  and  adopting  a  meafure  fo  eflentially  affecting  the  vital  interefts  of  the 
Nation  as  a  declaration  of  War,  the  arguments  for  and  againft  the  meafure  are  withheld 
from  publick  view. 

Refolved  That  in  the  prefent  fituation  of  our  Nation  we  cannot  fee  from  the  facts  dif- 
clofed  to  the  publick,  any  reafonable  ground  for  making  War  upon  Great  Britain.  If  it 
be  undertaken  to  protect  Commerce,  we  apprehend  it  will  completely  annihilate  this.  If 
it  be  to  recover  our  impreffed  feamen,  we  underftand  that  the  Britifh  Government  has 
never  claimed  the  right  to  imprefs  them,  nor  refufed  to  reftore  them  ;  but  we  confider  War 
as  likely  to  involve  our  feamen  in  poverty  at  home  or  captivity  abroad.  If,  as  has  been 
publickly  alledged,  it  be  undertaken  to  conquer  Canada,  we  confider  fuccefs  as  worfe  than 
defeat. 

Refolved  That  we  confider  it  an  extreme  hardfhip  that  the  militia  fliould  be  called  from 
their  farms  and  other  lawful  occupations  to  repel  invafions  which  do  not  appear  likely  to 
take  place. 

Refolved  That  we  do  deprecate  as  completing  the  deftruction  of  all  we  hold  dear  in 
fociety,  the  effect  and  tendency  of  War  as  leading  to  an  alliance  with  France  and  binding 
us  as  flaves  in  the  chains  of  the  Tyrant  who  fears  not  God  nor  regards  man. 

Refolved  that  we  will  unite  in  fupport  of  order,  and  will  not  ceafe  our  exertions  to  pro- 
cure an  honorable  peace,  and  to  effect  thefe  defirable  objects  we  will  take  all  conftitutional 
meafures  to  procure  an  election  into  office  of  the  friends  of  commerce  impartiall  neutrality 
and  peace. 

Voted  to  choofe  Jabez  Colton  a  Delegate  to  reprefent  the  Town  in  a  convention  pro- 
pofed  to  be  holden  at  Northampton  on  the  14th  day  of  July  next ;  and  that  he  be  and 
hereby  is  directed  to  communicate  the  doings  of  this  meeting,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  a 
general  concurrence  herewith.  JABEZ  COLTON  Town  Clerk. 

Nothing  in  the  present  appearance  of  Longmeadow  Street  would  indicate 
any  necessity  for  the  following  series  of  votes  early  in  the  present  century, 
respecting 

VARIOUS  CLASSES  OF  ANIMALS, 

which,  however,  were  doubtless  not  uncalled  for  at  the  time  : 

April  Ist,.  1799,  Voted  that  the  Swine  have  liberty  to  go  at  large  only  being  yoked  and 
ringed  according  to  Law. 

February  17,  1801.     Voted  that  for  the  fpace   of  one   year  from  this  day — it  is  ordered 
and  directed  that  Neat  Cattle,  Horfes  or  horfe  kind  Mules   or  Affes  fliall    not  go  at  large 
within  the  Limits  of  this  Town  without  a  keeper,  under  Penalty  of  twenty  five  Cents  for 
Each  Beaft  agreeable  to  a  Law  of  this  Commonwealth  paffed  Feb  26.  1800. 
23 


1 76 

April  6.  1 80 1  it  is  Voted  that  from  and  after  the  firft  day  of  June  next  Geefe  mall  not 
have  liberty  to  go  at  large  in  this  Town  under  Penalty  of  three  Cents  for  Each  Goofe  fo 
found  going  at  large — Said  Penalty  to  be  recovered  with  Cofts  of  Suit  of  the  owner  or 
keeper  of  Geefe  found  at  large  by  any  perfon  who  mall  fue  therefor  before  any  Juftice  of 
the  Peace  belonging  to  the  County  of  Hampfhire.  Voted  that  Col.  Gideon  Burt  be  a 
Comtee  from  this  Town  to  obtain  the  approbation  of  the  foregoing  By  Law  at  the  Court  of 
General  Seffions  of  Peace  at  Northampton  in  May  next.  v 

A  CHANGE  OF  TOWN  NAME, 

has,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  occasionally  exercised  the  minds  of  Longmeadow 
citizens.  The  following  letter  written  by  Nathaniel  Ely,  ST.,  to  his  son 
Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr.,  our  agent  at  the  General  Court  at  the  time  of  Town  In- 
corporation, shows  how  little  the  peaceful  and  pastoral  beauty  of  a  perhaps 
too  familiar  name,  was  then  appreciated  by  even  such  a  citizen  : 

"  LONGMEADOW  Oct.  13.  1783. 

11  SON  NATHel  We  received  your  Second  Letter  by  Mr  Adams  the  Poft.  by  whom  I 
mail  fend  you  Five  Pounds  in  Cam.  We  rejoice  to  hear  of  your  welfare  and  al  ye  profpedr. 
of  your  accomplifhing  the  Important  Bufinefs  you  have  the  care  of  Would  Inform  you 
through  Divine  Goodnefs  we  are  all  well  as  ufual.  Nothing  remarkable  has  happened  here 

fince  you  Left  home My  kind  Compliments  to  Col.  Blifs.     Your  Mother  fends 

love  to  you.  With  my  fincere  regards  and  Concern  for  your  welfare  and  Good  ConducT:  I 
fubfcribe  myfelf  Your  affectionate  Father  NATHel  ELY." 

"P.  S.  If  we  are  Made  a  Separate  Town  I  ihould  Chufe  to  be  Called  South  Springfield 
Rather  than  Longmeadow." 

About  twenty  years  later  the  matter  engaged  the  attention  of  the  town 
quite  seriously,  as  appears  from  the  following  votes  : 

April  6,  1812  Voted  that  Cap4  Ethan  Ely  Chefter  Woolworth  Col  Gideon  Burt. 
Stephen  Taylor  and  Dr  Oliver  Blifs  be  a  Comtee  to  confider  of  the  propriety  of  having  the 
name  of  the  Town  altered  and  make  a  report  at  the  Town  Meeting  in  May  next. 

May  4,  1812  Voted  that  the  Comtce  Chofen  April  6.  1802  on  the  Bufinefs  of  Altering 
the  Name  of  the  Town  attend  further  to  their  Bufinefs.  and  look  out  a  Name  which  may 
fuit  the  Town  to  receive  inftead  of  their  prefent  Name,  and  report  to  the  Town  at  their 
meeting  next  November. 

November  2,  1812  Voted  to  petition  the  General  Court  that  the  Name  of  this  Town 
Longmeadow  may  be  Exchanged  for  Lifbon  and  that  the  Town  Clerk  make  out  a  Copy  of 
this  vote  and  deliver  the  fame  to  the  reprefentative  of  the  Town  for  him  to  petition  f'1 
General  Court  that  this  alteration  may  be  made. 

This  project  was,  however,  given  up  upon  the  fortunate  discovery  that 
there  was  already  another  town  in  the  Commonwealth  bearing  the  name  of 
Lisbon.  The  subject,  however,  was  not  dropped  at  once,  for 

November  12,  1812.  Voted  that  the  Cornt68  chofen  April  6.  1812  to  find  a  new  Name 
for  the  Town  be  directed  to  find  a  name  for  the  Town  and  if  they  cannot  agree  upon  any 
one  particular  Name  they  are  defired  to  feledr.  a  Number  of  Names  moft  proper  and  refer 
them  to  Roderick  Burt  to  choofe  one  of  them  and  prefent  to  the  Town  at  this  adjourned 
meeting. 


1/7 

As  no  further  reference  to  the  matter  appears  upon  the  records,  the  pre- 
sumption is  that  no  more  fitting  name  than  Nature's  own  was  found  by  Mr. 
Burt.  Long  may  it  be  ere  the  agitation  is  revived,  at  least  for  that  portion 
of  the  town  which  was  first  thus  named,  and  to  which  it  so  evidently 
belongs. 

This  series  of  votes  illustrating  the  Municipal  Life  of  a  New  England 
Village  of  the  last  century  might  be  indefinitely  extended.  As  a  strictly 
proportional  exhibit  of  the  public  interest  upon  the  varied  subjects  included, 
it  has  indeed  some  deficiencies, — notably  in  the  educational  department. 
Probably  more  votes  uppn  this  subject  than  upon  any  other,  except  church 
matters,  crowd  the  pages  of  both  the  Precinct  and  the  Town  records ;  but 
chiefly  of  a  statistical  character,  which  renders  them  less  adapted  for  present 
use.  Enough  of  all  have,  however,  been  given  to  demonstrate  the  intelli- 
gently minute  yet  broadly  comprehensive  religious  and  patriotic  sentiment 
which  pervaded  that  ancient  town  life.  It  is  impossible  to  read  such  a 
series  of  votes  as  the  preceding  without  recognizing  on  every  page  that 
sturdy  independence,  strong  common  sense,  and  high  moral  purpose  which 
have  everywhere  characterized  Saxon  civilization.  By  the  sharp  attritions 
of  keen  minds  and  the  resolute  wrestle  of  strong  wills  in  the  close  encoun- 
ters of  town  debate,  all  finally  mutually  consenting  in  the  compromises  of 
a  saving  common  sense,  every  important  question  of  public  welfare  has 
been  surely  and  safely,  if  not  swiftly  wrought  out.  Churches  and  school 
houses  have  been  built  and  maintained,  roads  constructed,  local  laws 
enacted  and  administered  to  meet  every  exigency  of  social  life,  and  all  the 
varied  machinery  of  municipal  government  so  systematized  and  sustained  as 
to  realize  justice  and  comfort  for  all ; — far  more  so,  at  least,  than  could 
have  been  the  case  under  the  autocratic  rule  of  any  single  mind  or  will, 
however  imperial  in  intelligence  or  energy.  Under  what  other  civilization 
could  such  a  record  of  incorporated  yeoman  enactment  as  is  here  presented 
be  matched  ? 

To  impart  to  this  monograph  of  Ancient  Town  Life  its  utmost  aroma  of 
antiquity,  it  has  been  preferred  to  present  it  in  veritable  antique  typography, 
even  at  some  sacrifice  of  visual  beauty  and  clearness.  For  the  longer  docu- 
ments however  which  follow,  though  of  equal  or  even  earlier  antiquity,  a 
return  to  more  modern  typographical  dress  will  probably  not  be  unwelcome 
to  even  the  most  ardent  antiquarian. 


1 78 


SPRINGFIELD     LINE 


1703- 
Joseph  Cooley,  Sen. 

1708. 
Thomas  Colton. 

ijij; 

•-X 

Abel  Curtis 

'•'•'•','• 

N 

Eliakim  Cooley. 

0 

HIGHWAY  TO  WOODS. 

A 

# 

1708. 
Nathaniel  Burt,  Jr. 

R          H 

m 

/ 

\/ 

Unknown. 

Obadiah   Miller. 

s 

1703. 

Thomas  Cooley. 

n 

Increase  Sikes. 

' 

I  !  i  ;  • 

H 

FIELD  HIGHWAY. 

o 

Benjamin  Cooley. 

0 

1708. 
Samuel  Cooley. 

o 

(* 

ill  i 

Jonathan   Cooley. 

^ 

o 

1708. 
Jonathan  Cooley. 

'* 

',  M 

ii  i| 

Joseph  Cooley. 

^            V 

1708. 
Daniel  Cooley. 

o 

,-] 

i;  c/5 

1703. 
Daniel  Cooley. 

& 

> 

1708. 
John  Cooley. 

1—  1 

n 

M            ::  C 

>     !N 

1714. 
Joseph  Cooley. 
Coo 

i* 

LEY          B 

Geo.  Colton. 

ROOK. 

;C 

0      I!  a 
o       ii  HH 

1703. 
Thomas  Bliss. 

K 

H 

Benjamin  Cooley,  2  A. 

<!          iif1 

^              ;    •_. 

. 

1703. 
Joseph  Bliss. 

I* 

N 

1707. 
Bassil  Steele. 

» 

p—  i 

j... 

Eliakim  Cooley. 

M 
H 

1707. 
Simon  Cooley. 

< 

:  ::i 

EMBRSON  HIGHWAY. 

S.  BLISS   HIGHWAY. 

M 

! 

^OS- 
Samuel  Stebbins. 

1707. 
Joseph  Cooley,  2d. 

^ 

i?°3- 

o 

Thomas  Cooley. 

Samuel  Stebbins. 

* 
o 

o 

1707. 
Nathaniel  Bliss,  Jr. 

WHEEL    M 

w 

E   A    D   O   W 

I7°7'  Dan'l  Cooley,  Jr. 
BROOK. 

) 

Thomas  Bliss,  2d. 

< 

O 

i703- 
Jonathan  Ely. 

ELY    HIGHWAY. 

B 

1703- 

! 

/ 

; 
; 

i':!: 

i?°3- 
Nathaniel   Burt. 

Nathaniel  Burt. 

CHURCH. 

j2i 

HIGHWAY. 

CENTER     LINE. 

These  two  pages  exhibit  a  plan  of  the  entire  Longmeadow  Settlement  as  origin- 
ally modeled  and  granted  by  the  Springfield  Committee.  The  central  street  was 
laid  out  twenty  rods  wide  and  four  miles  long,  extending  from  Springfield  to  Enfield. 
A  highway  ten  rods  wide  ran  eastward  from  this  into  the  woods,  commencing  near 
the  middle  of  the  main  street,  and  several  highways  led  from  it  westward  to  the 
meadow  at  intervals  of  about  half  a  mile.  The  church  was  located  about  the  center 
of  the  main  street,  and  the  burying-ground  on  the  south  side  of  the  highway  leading 
eastward  at  that  point. 


NE. 


i> 

I7°3- 

"  « 

Burying-Ground.  |   H'wav. 

HORCH. 

1703. 

;;•!;!;; 

Samuel  Bliss,  ad. 

Benjamin  Cooley. 

jjjti  j{! 

(/I 

o 

1703- 
John  Ely. 

1703- 

(—1 

'703. 

H 

Samuel  Bliss,  ist. 

1703. 
Jonathan  Burt. 

ffi 

1703. 
Jonathan  Burt. 

_ 

George  Colton. 

W 

1707.- 
Nathaniel  Bliss. 

BOOTH  HIGHWAY. 

O 

1703. 

o 

i?°3- 

John  Atchenson.  . 

o 

(--> 

'  '  I  '  ;  ;  1  1 

Thomas  Haile. 

o 
as 

1703. 
Thomas  Haile. 

•^ 

JiijIHi 

o 

I?°7'  Samuel  Colton. 

M 

Samuel  Colton. 

•* 

MILL  HIGHWAY. 

n 

g     W 

g 

1703- 

. 

•H 

W        ;i  U;i 

Thomas  Colton,  Jr. 

1—  I 

f~) 

>           li  Wjj 

25 

1703- 

o      iimii 

HIGHWAY. 

en 

H 

<:       'if1;; 

^           lif1:' 

L  O   N   G   M 

Samuel  Keep. 

B  A  D  O  W 

pd 

BROOK. 
Samuel  Keep. 

» 

w 

HIGHWAY  (Green  Street.) 

i—  i 

iSilli'j 

John  Colton. 

w 
H 

1703. 
John  Colton. 

M 

1703. 

N 

A 

Y 
c 

::!!;i: 
>                             i;iii:i 

>                lijiji 

R  A  S  P  B 

Nathaniel  Burt. 

B  R  R  Y       B 

"^o""' 

0 

& 
o 

O 

Ul 

$ 

O 
H 

ROOK.    ^^^^^^^^^ 

EN  FIELD     LINE. 

The  individual  grants  usually  fronted  about  twenty  rods  on  the  main  street,  but 
those  former  owners  of  the  hill  lands  who  had  now  given  them  up  for  the  new  set- 
tlement were  permitted  larger  allotments ;  that  of  Nathaniel  Burt,  e.  g.,  extending 
from  the  meadow  gate,  south  of  the  later  Ely  mansion,  as  far  south  as  the  church, 
besides  forty  rods  front  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  which  he  gave  afterwards 
as  ministry  lands,  and  still  other  large  allotments  both  at  the  lower  and  upper  ends 
of  the  street.  The  dates  are  those  of  the  respective  grants. 


i8o 


F.— DOCUMENTS  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME. 

THE  MEADOW  PETITION. 

The  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Longmeadow  settlement  to 
the  town  of  Springfield  for  leave  to  remove  from  the  meadow  to  the 
higher  ground  eastward,  is  as  follows  : 

January  the  29th  170!  We  the  Inhabitants  of  Longmeadow  in  Springfield  do 
make  our  Addrefs  to  this  Town  of  Springfield  as  followeth  we  would  declare  our 
difficult  Circumftances 

i"  Our  living  in  a  general  Field  we  are  thereby  forced  to  be  at  great  charge  to 
make  Lanes  or  outlets  for  our  Creatures. 

2A  By  reafon  of  Floods  our  lives  have  been  in  great  Danger  our  Houfing  much 
damnified  and  many  of  our  Cattle  have  been  loft. 

3d  A  third  Difficulty  which  we  fhall  mention  in  the  laft  Place  (not  that  we  count 
it  a  matter  of  leaft  Concernment  but  becaufe  in  Reafon  it  will  be  helpt  in  the  laft 
Place)  and  that  is  our  living  remote  from  the  Publick  Worfhip  of  God  as  to  hearing 
the  word  preached  and  alfo  our  Children  are  thereby  deprived  of  the  Benefit  of  In- 
ftruclion  by  the  School  Mafter  in  the  Town. 

Now  for  our  Relief  we  do  fuppofe  our  beft  way  is  to  move  out  of  the  General 
Field  and  build  on  the  Hill  againft  Longmeadow  and  we  have  been  at  the  pains  to 
meafure  what  Lands  we  thought  might  be  convenient  to  build  on  for  Three  fcore 
or  four  fcore  Lots  and  be  twenty  Rods  in  breadth  and  about  eighty  Rods  in  Length. 
We  therefore  do  defire  the  Town,  to  grant  us  faid  Lands  as  home  lots  to  build  on 
Alfo  that  the  Town  would  order  thofe  Lands  to  be  laid  out  and  modled  in  fuch  way 
and  manner  as  may  be  moft  comfortable  for  Selling  thereon.  We  defire  not  this  that 
the  Town  by  granting  this  our  defire  fhould  be  brought  into  any  fnare  or  inconven- 
ience hereafter  but  for  our  own  Benefit  and  Comfort  and  our  Posterity  after  us. 

The  answer  of  the  town  of  Springfield  to  the  above  petition  is  as 
follows : 

March  9th  170!  At  a  general  Town  meeting  for  the  election  of  Town  Officers. 
At  this  meeting  the  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Longmeadow  prefented  at  the 
Town  meeting  January  29th  170!  was  confidered  and  it  was  voted  to  give  them  lib- 
erty to  build  upon  the  Hill  Eaftward  of  faid  Longmeadow.  It  was  further  voted  to 
give  the  Land  from  Pecowfick  to  Enfield  Bounds  and  from  the  Hill  Eaftward  of  the 
Longmeadow  half  a  mile  further  Eaftward  into  the  woods  unto  the  faid  Long- 
meadow  Inhabitants  and  to  fuch  others  as  a  Comtee  appointed  by  the  Town  fhall 
allow.  In  all  which  they  fhall  be  ordered  and  modled  in  fuch  way  and  manner  as 
may  be  moft  comfortable  to  fettle  on  referving  liberty  for  convenient  highways. 
And  MaJ  John  Pyncheon  Japhet  Chajoin  and  Lieu1  John  Hitchcock  were  appointed 
to  be  the  Comtee  to  fee  to  the  modling  and  dividing  of  thofe  faid  lands  and  the 
Charge  of  this  work  to  be  born  by  the  Longmeadow  Inhabitants  and  fuch  others  as 
fhall  be  added  to  the  Longmeadow  Inhabitants. 

HIGHWAY  LAYOUTS  AND  GRANTS. 

The  records  of  the  Springfield  Committee  appointed  to  model  and 
lay  out  the  Longmeadow  Hill  settlement  specify  numerous  numbered 
grants,  of  which. the  following  are  samples: 


i. — THE  MAIN  HIGHWAY. 

The  Comtee  hath  laid  out  a  Highway  or  Country  Road  of  twenty  Rod  wide  upon 
the  Hill  on  the  eaftward  fide  of  the  Longmeadow  beginning  at  Pacoufick  and  fo  to 
Run  to  Enfield  Bounds. 

44. — THE  MEETING-HOUSE  LANE. 

Granted  a  highway  of  ten  Rods  wide  on  the  Eaft  fide  of  the  Country  Road  in 
Longmeadow  Precincl  Running  eaftward  into  the  Commons  bounded  South  by  Benj" 
Cooley.  North  by  Nath1  Burt  Senr. 

45. — THE  BURYING-GROUND. 

Granted  out  of  the  Highway  aforef'1  one  acre  of  Land  for  a  Burying  Place  bounded 
Ibuth  by  Benj"  Cooley'  grant  aforefd  and  extending  north  in  the  Highway  four  Rods 
Bounded  weft  by  the  Country  Road  aforefa  and  extending  eaft  40  Rods. 
15. — THE  FIVE-ACRE  MINISTRY  LOT. 

April  28"''  1793  Granted  to  Nath1  Burt  Senr  two  Lots  20  Rods  wide  Each  on  the 
Eaft  fide  of  the  Country  Road  bounded  foutherly  by  the  Highway  that  leads  into 
the  woods  Northerly  by  Jon"  Ely's  Land  weft  by  the  Country  Road  Provided  it  does 
not  prejudice  any  former  Grants. 

April  28"'  1793  Granted  to  Jon"  Ely  a  Lot  of  twenty  feven  Rod  wide  on  the  eaft 
fide  of  the  Country  Road  bounded  fouth  by  Nath1  Burt  Senr  his  Land  North  by 
Daniel  Cooley  Junr  provided  it  does  not  prejudice  any  former  Grants. 

FORFEITURE  AGREEMENT. 

In  the  map  of  the  layout  'of  the  Hill  settlement  given  upon  pages 
178  and  179,  it  will  be  noticed  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  allotments 
were  made  within  a  period  of  five  years,  from  1703  to  1708.  The  fol- 
lowing copy  of  an  agreement  of  certain  meadow  settlers  with  a  for- 
feiture condition  attached,  to  encourage  early  settlement  upon  the  hill, 
explains  this  fact : 

SPRINGFIELD  the  29"'  of  November  Ano  1703. 

Thefe  Prefents  teftify  an  Agreement  by  the  Subfcribers  hereof,  allb  an  Obligation 
with  the  Conditions. 

Whereas  it  is  difcouraging  to  ibme  particular  perfons  that  are  about  to  build  on 
the  Hill  in  Confideration  that  they  fhall  live  far  from  neighbors  and  alfo  with  refpe6t 
to  highways  convenient  for  them  to  Carry  their  Crops  up  the  Hill  To  incourage 
thofe  who  fhall  go  forthwith  up  and  build  and  carry  on,  and  in  order  to  collect  on 
the  Hill.  We  the  fubfcribers  do  bind  ourfelves  to  carry  on  as  to  making  Highways 
Equal  with  thole  that  go  up  at  prefent  to  dwell  there.  Alfo  as  to  our  equal  propor- 
tion of  fencing  out  f'1  ways  from  particular  Enclofures  and  to  maintain  fd  ways. 

Here  follows  several  individual  agreements  of  John  Colton,  Eph- 
raim  Colton  Jr.,  George  Colton,  Samuel  Colton,  and  Capt.  Thomas 
Colton,  to  give  land  for  suitable  highways  from  the  meadow  to  the 
Street,  which  appear  to  have  been  laid  out  three  in  number,  and  about 
half  a  mile  apart.  The  document  concludes  with  the  following  pledge  : 

Furthermore,  we  the  Subfcribers  both  thofe  who  give  the  Land  for  the  Highways 


182 

alfo  all  others  that  have  Lotts  there  viz  between  Longmeadow  Brook  and  Wheal- 
meadow  Brook  do  oblige  ourfelves  under  forfeiture  of  Ten  pounds  to  build  a  Good 
Dwelling  Houfe  on  the  Hill  within  five  years  to  be  paid  to  thofe  who  go  up  there 
before.  This  is  to  be  underftood  under  condition  that  extraordinary  troubles  by 
wars  or  fickness  prevent  or  that  any  of  us  move  away  before  that  time.  We  subfcribe 
EPHRAIM  COLTON  THOMAS  COLTON  GEO  COLTON  DAVID  BURT  NATH'  BURT  JUNV 
THOMAS  HAIL  SAM'  COLTON  JON"  BURT  JOHN  BURT  SAM'  KEEP 

THE  PRECINCT  ACT  OF   INCORPORATION. 

The  following  is  the  Act  of  Precinct  Incorporation,  applied  for  some 
years  later,  as  copied  from  the  Book  of  Precinct  Records  : 

"  PROVINCE  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY. 

At  a  feffion  of  the  Great  and  General  Courtt  or  Affembly,  held  att  Bofton  Feb'-v 
10,  1713.  It  being  Reprefented  that  the  Petitioners  Inhabitants  of  thatt  Partt  of  the 
Town  of  Springfield  Commonly  Called  Longmeadow,  (altho  not  fully  the  Number 
of  Forty  Families)  are  of  Good  and  Sufficientt  ability  to  Maintain  a  Minifter ;  and 
oftentimes  Cannot  with  any  Conveniency  attend  the  Publick  Worfhip  at  -the  Meeting 
Hous  that  now  is  in  the  fd  Town,  by  reafon  of  their  great  Diftance  from  it. 

Ordered  that  the  Prayer  of  the  Petition  be  Granted,  and  that  a  Seperate  Precinft 
for  the  Gofpel  miniftry  be  and  heerby  is  fet  of  and  eftablifhed  in  the  fd  Town  of 
Springfield  accordingly  with  all  ufual  powers  and  privileges :  To  be  bounded 
Northerly  by  a  Line  to  be  Drawn  from  the  mouth  of  Pecowfick  Brook  fo  Called 
where  it  falls  into  Conecticutt  River,  to  the  province's  Land  paralel  to  the  Line  of 
the  Southern  bounds  of  the  fli  Town  of  Springfield,  Wefterly  by  Coneclicut  River, 
Southerly  by  the  Town  of  Endfield  and  Eafterly  by  the  province's  Land  Provided 
that  the  Inhabitants  and  Interefted  in  the  fd  precinct  fhal  pay  to  the  maintainence  of 
the  Miniftry  in  the  other  partt  of  the  Town  as  formerly  until  they  are  provided  with 
a  Learned  Orthodox  Minifter  and  agree  to  Raife  and  pay  the  fum  of  Fifty  pounds  at 
leaftt  annualy  for  his  Suport." 

PYNCHON'S  DEED  TO  QUARTERMASTER  GEORGE  COLTON. 

The  following  copy  of  a  very  old  deed  from  John  Pynchon  to  Quar- 
termaster George  Colton,  though  it  bears  date  of  1678  only,  refers  to 
the  actual  sale,  it  will  be  noticed,  as  having  been  made  "  many  yeers 
since."  The  memorandum  at  the  end,  also,  as  to  the  source  from 
whom  Pynchon  himself  obtained  his  own  title,  may  have  historical 
value  as  indicating  the  original  allotment  of  the  lands  in  question : 

Thefe  prefents  teftifie  that  John  Pynchon  Esq.  of  Springfield  in  the  Colony  of  the 
Maffachufetts,  for  and  in  good  and  valuable  confiderations,  him  and  herevnto  mov- 
ing, hath  many  yeers  since,  given,  granted,  bargained  and  sold,  And  by  thefe  pref- 
ents doth  with  the  free  confent  of  Mrs.  Amy  Pynchon  his  wife  fully  clearly  and  abfo- 
lutely  give,  grant,  bargain  and  fel  vnto  George  Colton  of  Springfield  aforef*1  and 
vnto  his  heires  and  affignes  for  ever,  Certain  Portions  or  parcels  of  Lands,  arable, 
medow  and  pafture  lying  and  being  in  the  Long  Meadow  in  Springfield  or  the  bor- 
ders thereof,  as  follows  in  this  deed  mentioned :  Imprimis. 


1 83 

[Here  follows  an  enumeration  of  thirteen  parcels  of  meadow  land 
with  reference  to  former  or  present  ownerships  of  various  persons, 
viz.  :  Jonathan  Burt,  John  Lumbard,  John  Harman,  Thomas  Hicks, 
Alexander  Edwards,  James  Bridgman,  John  Clarke,  Henry  Burt. 
Roger  Pritchard,  George  Langhton,  the  Widow  Bliss,  Joseph  Parsons, 
and  including  in  the  aggregate  over  seventy  acres  of  meadow  land.] 

Al  of  which  parcels  of  Land  being  thirteen  parcels,  and  al  the  Trees,  Timber,  Woods 
and  vnderwoods,  Fences,  profits  and  other  appurtenances  therevnto  belonging,  the  fd 
George  Colton  is  to  Have,  Hold,  and  Enjoy  for  himfelf  and  his  heires  and  affignes 
for  ever.  And  the  fd  John  Pynchon  Efq.  doth  hereby  covenant  and  promife  to  and 
with  the  f'1  George  Colton  to  fave  the  fd  George  Colton  harmles  from  al  manner  of 
Claim,  right,  title  or  Intereft  of  any  perfon  or  perfons  lawfully  Claiming  any  right  or 
Intereft  in  the  f '  Lands  above  mentioned,  and  by  thefe  prefents  fold — From  By  and 
vnder  him  the  fd  John  Pynchon  Efq  And  It  is  the  Intent  of  thefe  prefents  that  this 
Deed  of  Sale  (hall  not  be  to  the  prejudice  of  any  highwayes  laid  out  thorow  any  of 
thofe  Lands,  And  in  Witnefs  to  thefe  prefents  the  abovef'1  John  Pynchon  Efq.  and 
Mrs.  Amy  his  wife  have  hereto  fet  their  Names  and  Seals  this  feventh  day  of  March 
i6|f. 

Thofe  words  in  the  laft  line  but  four  [from  By  and  Under  him  the  fd  John  Pynchon] 
were  interlined  before  figning.  JOHN  PYNCHON 

AMY  PYNCHON 

Subfcribed  fealed  and  delivered  in  the  prefence  of 
JOHN  HOLYOKE. 
BENJAMIN  HINTON. 

March  8th  i6f  f  Mrs.  Amy  Pynchon  acknowledged  this  Inftrument  to  which  fhe 
hath  fubfcribed  her  Name  to  be  her  ac~l  and  Deed,  freely  refigning  all  her  Intereft  in 
ye  Land  above  mentioned  to  Geo.  Colton  and  his  heirs  Before  me  JOHN  PYNCHON. 

Memmorandum  That  al  the  thirteen  parcels  of  lands  in  this  Deed  mentioned 
were  by  Alexander  Edwards  fold  and  by  fale  fully  and  forever  paft  away  over  to 
John  Pynchon  Efq.  and  his  for  ever. 

JOINTURE  AGREEMENT. 

The  following  marriage  jointure  agreement  would  seem  to  indicate 
the  ability  of  our  foremothers  to  -secure  all  their  just  rights  under  legal 
forms,  as  well  as  the  willingness  of  our  forefathers  to  grant  them, 
even  in  a  period  so  long  prior  to  any  Woman's  Rights'  agita- 
tion. Indeed,  it  is  a  little  suggestive  of  the  formula  sometimes  attrib- 
uted to  the  opposite  sex  as  expressive  of  their  assumed  rights, 
"  What's  yours  is  mine  and  what's  mine  is  my  own  "  : 

ARTICLES  OF  AGREEMENT  Made  and  Concluded  Upon  between  Nath1  Burt  Senr, 
Plow  Right,  and  Mary  Crowfoot  Widow  Both  of  Springfield  in  the  County  of  Hamp- 
fhire  in  the  Province  of  the  Maffachufetts  Bay  in  New  England — Witneffeth — That 
Whereas  a  Marriage  is  Concluded  and  Agreed  Upon  by  and  Between  the  fa  Nath1  Burt 
and  Mary  Crowfoot  and  by  the  grace  of  God  fhortly  Intended  to  be  folemnized  by 
and  Between  them,  and  to  the  End  that  Love  Peace  and  Unity  may  be  Kept  by  and 
Between  them  and  Their  Children  Refpeclively  and  that  Juftice  May  be  Don— It  is 
Hereby  Covenanted  and  Agreed  by  and  Between  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  and  Mary  Crow- 
24 


1 84 

foot — for  themfelves  their  feveral  and  Refpeclive  Heirs  and  Adminiftrators  in  Manner 
and  form  following,  In  Cafe  the  Said  Intended  Marriage  fhall  take  Effecl — That  is 
to  Say — 

That  the  Said  Nathaniel  Burt  on  his  Part  Covenants  and  Agrees  with  the  fd  Mary 
Crowfoot — that  all  fuch  Houfehold  Goods  and  Movable  Eftate  that  fhe  (hall  Put  in 
Poffeffion  and  Improvement  of  the  f'1  Nath1  Burt  Either  Before  or  After  the  Time  of 
their  Marriage,  fhall  be  Returned  to  the  fd  Mary  Crowfoot  Immediately  Upon  the  fd 
Nath1  Burts  Deceafe  In  Cafe  fhe  furvive  him,  and  if  the  faid  Mary  Crowfoot  mall  De- 
liver to  the  fcl  Nath1  Burt  one  Cow  for  his  Ufe,  the  fd  Cow,  or  Another  Cow  of  Equal 
Value  ihall  be  Delivered  to  the  f'1  Mary  Crowfoot  in  Cafe  fhe  furvive  Him  to  be  then 
at  her  Own  Dilpofal  with  the  Other  Movable  Eftate  as  aforefd.  But  if  in  Cafe  it  ihall 
fo  Happen  that  the  fd  Mary  Crowfoot  fhall  Deceale  before  the  1s  Nath1  Burt,  then  all 
the  Moveable  Eftate  with  the  Cow  as  Aforef3  mall  be  Delivered  to  the  Heirs,  Executors 
or  Adminiftrators  of  the  fd  Mary  Crowfoot  or  to  Thofe  Perfons  to  whom  fhe  (hall 
Order  and  Appoint  to  have  and  Receive  the  fame.  And  Further  it  is  Agreed  that  in 
Cafe  the  f'1  Mary  Crowfoot  fhall  furvive  the  f"  Nath1  Burt  that  fhe  Ihall  have  the  Ufe 
and  Improvement  of  one  of  the  lower  Dwelling  Rooms  of  the  Now  Dwelling  houfe 
of  the  f3  Nath1  Burt  being  in  Long  Meadow  in  Springfield  aforefd — viz.  the  Eaft 
Room  and  fuch  a  Part  of  the  Orchard  in  the  Home  lot  of  the  f  Nath1  Burt  As  (he 
(hall  have  Need  and  Occafion  for  her  own  Perfonal  Ufe  and  Comfort — but  not  to  Dif- 
pofe  of  any  of  the  fruit  of  fd  Orchard  Otherwife  than  for  her  Own  Ufe  as  Aforef'1,  as 
alfo  fuch  a  Part  of  the  f1  Home  Lot  as  is  lying  Between  the  Eafterly  End  of  the  f'1 
Houfe  and  the  Highway — as  alfq  fo  Much  of  the  Cellar  Room  Under  the  f'1  Houfe  as 
(he  (hall  need,  and  Liberty  of  Setting  and  Keeping  fome  Neceffary  Houfehold  Goods 
in  the  Eaft  Chamber  of  f'1  Houfe  if  (he  mall  have  Need  or  Occafion  thereof, — as  allo 
the  Liberty  of  Improving  the  well  Near  the  fd  Houfe  for  the  Drawing  of  Water  with 
liberty  of  Faffing  to  and  from  the  (d  Well  as  (lie  (hall  have  Occafion: — as  alfo  Liberty 
of  a  convenient  Paffagefrom  the  Great  Door  of  fd  Houfe,  to  the  ftreet  upon  the  Couth 
fide  of  fd  Houfe — and  fo  long  as  (he  (hall  Remain  his  Widow  and  no  longer  if  (he  fee 
Caufe — but  not  to  Leafe  or  Let  the  fame  to  any  other  Perfon,  ....  And  the  fd  Nath1 
Burt  Further  Agrees  with  the  (d  Mary  Crowfoot  that  all  fuch  Eftate  which  the  fd  Mary 
Crowfoot  (hall  be  Pofleffed  of  and  have  Right  and  Title  to  at  the  Time  of  the  Mar- 
riage Aforef"  (hall  be  and  Remain  to  her,  her  Heirs  and  Affigns  in  the  fame  ftate  and 
Condition  as  they  would  be  in  Cafe  the  fd  Intended  Marriage  (hould  Not  Take  Effect 
— Excepting  what  Movable  Eftate  (he  (hall  Deliver  to  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  as  Aforefd 
— and  that  fhe  (hall  have  Power  and  Authority  at  Any  time  During  her  ueing  the 
wife  of  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  to  Give,  Grant  and  difpofe  of  her  fd  Eftate  in  fuch  way  and 
Manner  as  fhe  (hall  fee  Caufe  — and  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  from  all  Right  and  title  or  In- 
tereft  therein  by  Means  Hereof  (hall  be  Secluded  and  Debarred  Save  Only  What  he 
is  to  have  the  Ufe  of  as  Aforefd  . 

And  the  fd  Mary  Crowfoot  on  her  Part  Covenants  with  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  that  all 
fuch  Estate  Both  Real  and  Perfonal — he  (hall  Die  Siezed  and  Poffeffed  of  or  which 
he  (hall  have  Right  and  Title  to  at  the  Time  of  his  Death  (In  Cafe  (he  Survive  him) 
ihall  be  and  Remain  to  the  Heirs  of  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  or  to  thofe  Perfons  he  fhall 
Give  and  difpofe  of  the  Same  Unto  them  their  Heirs  and  Affigns — and  that  from  all 
Right  and  Title  to  and  Intereft  Therein  (he  The  fd  Mary  Crowfoot  her  Heirs  and 
Affigns  (hall  by  means  Herof  be  Secluded  and  Debarred. 

In  Witnefs  Whereof  that  this  Agreement  (hall  be  held  good  and  Valid  by  and 
between  the  fd  Nath1  Burt  and  Mary  Crowfoot  Their  Heirs,  Executors  and  Admin- 
istrators According  to  the  True  Intent  and  Meaning  Thereof — They  Have  Hereunto 


i85 

Set  Their  Hands  and  Seals  this  Ninth  Day  of  May  in  the  Thirteenth  Year  of  his 
Majeflies  Reign.  Annoque  Domini  1740. 

Signed  fealed  and  Delivered  In  prefence  of  NATHANIEL  BURT  Senr 

MARY  CROWFOOT 

INDENTURE  AGREEMENTS. 

The  following  indentures  of  apprenticeship  of  the  olden  time  have 
both  a  literary  and  sociologic  interest : 

I  This  Indenture  Witneffeth  that  Nath1  Ely  Junr  of  Springfield  in  the  County  of 
Hampfhire  and  Commonwealth  of  Maffachufetts  Guardean   in  Law   to  A.  C.    of 
Springfield  Aforefd  have  and  do  by  thefe  Prefents  Put  the  fd  A.  C.  an  Apprentice  to 
John  Dewey  of  Suffield  Houfe  Joyner  in  the  County  of  Hartford  State  of  Connect- 
icut to  ferve  him  from  the  Day  of  the  Date  hereof  untill  he  Arrive  to  the  full  Age 
of  twenty  one  years  During  all  which  time  he  the  fd  Apprentice  his  fd  Mafter  (hall 
faithfully  Serve  his  fecrets  keep  his  Lawfull  Commands  Every  where    Cherfully 
Obey  he  fhall  do  no  Damage  to  his  fd  Mafter  nor  fee  it  done  by  Others  without  Give- 
ing  notice  thereof  to  his  fd  Mafter.  he  fhall  not  waft  his  Mafters  Goods  nor  lend 
them  unlawfully  to  Others,  he  fhall  not  Commit  fornication  nor  Contract  Matrimony 
within  the  fd  term  at  Cards  Dice  or  Any  unlawfull  Games  he  fhall  not  Play,  to  the  Dam- 
age of  his  fd  Mafter.  with  his  own  Goods  or  the  Goods  of  Others  During  the  fd  Term 
without  leave  from  his  fd  Mafter  he  fhall  Neighther  by  nor  fell,  he  fhall  not  Abfent 
himfelf  by  Day  or  Night  from  his  fd  Mafters  fervice  without  his  leave,  nor  haunt  Ale- 
houfes  Taverns  or  Playhoufes  but  in  all  things  behave  himfelf  as  a  faithfull  Appren- 
tice Ought  to  do  During  the  fd  Term.     And  he  the  fd  Mafter  Shall  ufe  the  utmoft  of 
his  Endeavours  to  Teach  or  Caufe  to  be  Taught  and  Inftrufted  the  fd  Apprentice  in 
the  Trade  or  Myftery  he  now  Profefeth  Occupieth  or  followeth  and  Procure  or  Pro- 
vide for  him  the  fd  Apprentice  Good  and  Sufficiant  Meat  Drink  Waihing  and  Lodg- 
ing futable  for  an  Apprentice  both  in   Sicknefs  and  In  Health  During  the  fd  Term 
and  he  the  fd  Mafter  Shall  Pay  all  Rates  and  Taxes  that  fhall  Arife  on  his  the  fd 
Apprentices  Account  or  Any  moneys  that  may  Arife  on  Account  of  his  the  fd   Ap- 
prenticefes  being  Claffed  or  Drafted  to  Go  into  the  War  During  the  fd  term,  and  alfo 
to  teach  the  fd  Apprentice  to  Read  and  Write  and  Inftrucl;  him  in  the  Principles  of 
the  Prodiftant  Religion,  and  for  the  true  Performance  of  Each  and  Every  of  the  fd 
Covenants  and  Articles  we  hereunto  let  our  hands  and  feals  this  Twenty  firft  Day  of 
Auguft.AD   1781.  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  Independance  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  JOHN  DEWEY  NATH"  ELY  Junr 

Sind  Seald  and  Delivered  in  Prefents  of 
EBENEZER  COLTON  NATH!  BLISS 

II  This  Indenture  witneffeth  that  Calvin  Burt  Jofeph  W.  Cooley  and  Ethan  Ely,  Se- 
lectmen of  the  town  of  Longmeadow  in  the  County  of  HampfViire  by  virtue  of  a 
Law  of  the  Commonwealth  in  fuch  cafes  made  and  provided,  have  placed  and  by 
thefe  preients  do  place  and  bind  out  as  an  Apprentice,  a  poor  child  named  A.  S., 
daughter  of  E.  S.  decefd  unto  Hezekiah  Hale  of  fd  Longmeadow,  to  learn  the  art  of 
houfewifery,  the  fd  A.  S.  after  the  manner  of  an  Apprentice  to  dwell  with  and  ferve 
the  fd  Hezekiah  Hale  from  the  day  of  the  date  hereof  until  the  day  when  fhe  the  fd 
A.  S.  fhall  if  living  arrive  to  the  age  of  eighteen  years  or  fhall  be  lawfully^  married, 
during  all  which  time  or  term  the  fd  A.  S.  her  fd  Mafter  and  Miftrefs  well  and  faith- 
fully fhall  ferve,  and  his  lawful  commands  every  where  readily  obey;  fhe  fhall  wil- 


1 86 

fully  do  no  damage  to  her  fd  Mailer  or  Miftrefs  or  to  their  property,  or  willingly  fuf- 
fer  any  to  be  done  by  others,  from  the  fervice  of  her  fd  Mafter  or  Miftrefs  (he  fhall 
not  abfent  herfelf,  but  in  all  things  and  at  all  times  (he  fhall  carry  and  behave  her- 
felf  as  a  good  and  faithful  apprentice  ought,  during  the  whole  time  or  term  aforefd . 
And  the  fd  Hezekiah  Hale  on  his  part  doth  hereby  promife  and  agree  to  teach  and 
inftru6l  the  fd  A.  S.  or  caufe  her  to  be  taught  and  inftrucled  in  the  art  of  houfewifery 
in  the  feveral  branches  of  bufinefs  which  are  common  and  proper  for  a  maid  to  be 
inftrucled  in,  and  alfo  to  teach  or  caufe  her  to  be  taught  and  inftrucled  in  reading 
and  writing  as  much  as  is  proper  for  fuch  a  girl — and  well  and  truely  to  provide  her 
with  good  and  fufficient  food,  drink  and  clothing,  lodging  and  other  neceffaries,  in 
ficknefs  and  health,  fuitable  for  fuch  an  apprentice  during  the  term  aforefd  and  at 
the  expiration  of  the  term  aforefd  (hall  give  unto  the  fd  A.  S.  two  fuits  of  wearing 
apparel,  one  fuitable  for  Lords  days  and  the  other  fuitable  for  working  days,  and 
alfo  (hall  give  her  a  Bible. 

In  teftimony  whereof  the  Parties  aforefd  have  hereunto  interchangeably  fet  their 
hands  and  feals  the  i8th  day  of  Decembr  AD  1804,  CALVIN  BURT  ETHAN  ELY 

Signed,  Sealed  and  delivered  in  prefence  of  Jos.  H.  COOLEY  HEZEU  HALE. 

GIDEON  COLTON  JuNr  LUTHER  BURT. 

INVENTORY  OF  THOMAS  BLISS. 

[Husband  of  Margaret  Bliss  afterwards  of  Longmeadow.] 

The  Inventory  of  the  Goods  Chattells  and  Cattle  of  THOMAS  BLISS  of  Hartford 
deceafed  taken  by  Jofeph  Mygatt  and  Nath1  warde  this  14th  Feb?.  1650. 

It :  his  wearing  Apparell — 02  :  oo  :  oo — It :  one  bedftead  with  2  feather  bedds 
uppon  it  with  fheets  and  Blankitts — 08  :  oo  :  oo — It :  a  trundle  bed,  a  flock  bed 
uppon  it  with  fheets  and  Blankitts  i  pr  of  each — 03  :  oo  :  oo — It  :  pr  meets  and 
table  Cloths  and  yarns  in  ye  house — 03  :  oo  :  oo — It :  2  brafs  potts,  i  Iron  pott,  2 
kettles,  13  (killet  and  a  Mortar — 03  :  10  :  oo — It:  in  milk  veffells  and  other  fmall 
dimes  —  oo  :  10  :  oo — It:  in  pewter  as  much  as  comes  to — 01  :  15  :  oo — It:  i 
Spitt,  i  frying  pan,  I  tramell,  i  firepan  and  tongs — oo  :  08  :  oo — It :  i  beetle  fome 
wedges — oo  :  06  :  oo — It :  one  ould  trunck,  2  chefts,  and  one  boxe,  old  ones — 
oo  :  10  :  oo — It:  2  pair  of  fcales  and  weights  m/-v — oo  :  06  :  08 — It:  2  old  bibles 
— bo  :  05  :  oo — It :  one  powdering  tubb  and  a  Cowle — oo  :  07  :  o° — It :  one  br- 
axe  veffell  and  old  tubbs — oo  :  12  :  oo — It:  2  wheeles  and  2  feives — oo  :  08  :  oo- 
— It :  i  chaire  and  2  oldftooles — oo  :  02  :  oo — It :  I  charne,  i  buckett  and  2  payles 
— oo  :  06  :  oo — It:  i  Loome  with  baner  and  Slayes,  and  one  Whefle — 02  : 
!6  :  oo — it :  2  axes  and  4  old  hoes — oo  :  09  :  oo — It :  2  Sawes  and  one 
fpade — oo  :  12  :  oo — It:  2  cowes  and  2  yeare  old  calves — 16  :  oo  :  oo — It:  dew 
to  him  in  a  debt — 02  :  oo  :  oo — It :  his  howfe  and  Lott  belonging  to  it — 02  :  oo  :  oo 
— It :  of  meadow,  and  upland  35 .£ — 35  :  oo  :  oo — It :  another  houfe  Lott — 
02  :  10  :  oo — Total — 86  :  12  :  08.  (  NATHA:  WARDE 

Feb:  14th  1650  (  JOSEPH  MYGATT. 

mary  parfons  of  Springfield  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Blifs  Late  of  Hartford  de- 
ceafed, doth  teftifie,  that  when  her  father  Lay  on  his  death  bed,  (hee  heard  her 
mother  Afk  him,  how  hee  would  difpofe  of  his  Eftate,  he  Anfwered  hee  would  give 
it  to  her,  who  mould  have  it  alone,  her  mother  afked  him  if  he  would  not  difpofe 
of  it  to  his  Children,  her  father  Anfwered  again  no,  her  mother  fliould  have  it,  this 
(hee  fhall  bee  ready  to  teftifie  if  called  thereunto  :  witnefs  . 

JOHN  PINCHEON 

Feb7  20th  1650  HEN:  SMITH 


i87 

This  Court  taking  into  confideration  the  Eftate  of  Thomas  Bliss,  deceafed,  ac- 
cording to  the  evidence  given  in,  doe  give  unto  his  relict  power  to  Adminifter  uppon 
the  whole  Eftate  wch  mall  remaine  in  her  hands  and  for  her  ufe,  and  the  education 
of  her  Children  during  her  natural  life  (if  (he  fo  long  continue  a  widdow)  and  after 
her  death  to  be  divided  amongft  the  Children  whofe  names  are  in  the  margent 
[Laurence  Blifs,  John  Blifs,  Sam:  Blifs,  Hefther  Blifs,  Eliz:  Blifs,  Hannah  Blifs, 
Sarah  Blifs]  in  fuch  proportion  as  fhe  mail  apprehend  them  to  deferve,  but  if 
Ihee  fhall  marry  again  then  fecurity  (hall  be  given  in,  before  (hee  bee  Contracted  to 
the  fatiffaction  of  the  Courte  for  the  Cum  of  fifty  pounds  to  be  devided  amongft 
the  Children  aforefaid. 

This  was  done  by  this  Courte  (as  appeares  in  the  Records  thereoff)  with  the  con- 
fent  of  the  fd  Relict  only  with  the  provifo  "  except  the  elder  Children  can  give  juft 
grounds  and  reafons  that  they  mould  come  in  with  the  younger  Children  for  a  pro- 
portion of  the  Eftate  : " 

PULPIT  NOTICES. 

The  following  are  specimens  from  a  great  variety  of  public  notices 
read  from  the  pulpit  in  the  olden  time  : 

FEBRUARY  the  ii"1  i;f§. 

I  Thefe  may  Certifie  to  Whomfoever  it  may  Concern  that  Wee  the  Subfcribers 
are  Confenting  that  our  fon  Robert  Harris  of  Springfield  Should  Marry  with  Mr» 
Bathfheba  Pynchon  of  fd  Springfield  DANIEL  HARRIS    JOANNAH  HARRIS. 

II  Thefe  may  Certifie  that  ony*  18"'  day  of  Auguft  Ano  Dom'  1732  David  Burt 
of  Springfield  ye  3d  Entd  his  Intentions  of  Marriage  with  Sarah  Colton  of  fd  Spring- 
field and  that  on  y"  19""  day  of  fd   Month  Publication  thereof  was  made  as  ye  Law 
Directs  by  pofting  a  Notification  of  y*  fame.  Att9t 

Wm  PYNCHON  JUNr  Clerk  of  Springfield.     . 

III  This  may  Certifie  that  on  ye  IIth  day  of  April  Anno  Dom1  1735  Frances  Sikes 
of  Brimfield  Entered  his  Intention  of  Marriage  with  Elizabeth  Knowlton  of  Spring- 
field and  that  on  the  12th  day  of  f'1  April  Publication  was  made  by  pofting  a  Notifi 
cation  of  ye  fame  as  ye  Law  Directs    And  a!fo  that  on  ye  23d  day  of  fd  April  the 
Banns  of  Matrimony  between  the  fd  Perlons  was  forbidden  by  Elizabeth  Sikes  of 
fd  Springfield  Widw  Att8t  Wm  PYNCHON  JUNF  Clerk  of  Springfield. 

IV  Mathew  Kep  and  his  Wife  Defire  the  Name  of  GOD  may  be  praifed  for  his 
goodnefs  to  him  in  Preferving  him  Whilft  abroad  and  Returning  him  hum  and  re- 
ftoring  him  To  fuch  helth  as  he  is  able  to  atend  the  Publick  Worfhip  this  day  they 
Defire  they  may  be  helpt  to  Live  anfwerabel  to  the  mercies  Received. 

V  Stephen  Keep  Junr  Being  about  to  go  Into  public  fervice  in  the  ArmyDefires 
the  prayers  of  this  Congregation  for  him  that  God  would  keep  him  from  fin  and  all 
Evils  hee  may  bee  expofed  unto  and  bee   Returned  home  again  to  his  friends  In 
fafety  his  parents  Join  with  him. 

Ephraim  Brown  2nd  with  his  wife  Defire  to  Offer  Publick  thanks  to  god  for  his 
goodnefs  to  them  in  appearing  for  hur  in  an  hour  of  deficulty  and  Deftrefs  and  make- 
ing  hur  the  Mother  of  a  Living  and  Perfect  Child  they  defire  Prayers  that  god 
would  be  Pleafd  to  Reftore  his  handmaid  to  her  ufual  helth  and  ftrength  again  and 
Ennable  them  to  live  to  his  Praife  and  glory,  alfo  Defir  Baptifm — the  Child  name 
is  Afa. 


1 88 

THE  WILL  OF  DR.  WILLIAMS. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  will  of  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  D.D., 
the  first  Longmeadow  Pastor  : 

IN  THE  NAME  OF  THE  ETERNALL  JEHOVAH  AMEN. 

The  twenty  fixth  day  of  March  Anno  Domini  1771  and  of  the  Reign  of  King 
George  the  3d  y"  eleventh ;  I  Stephen  Williams  of  Springfd  (clerk)  in  the  county  of 
Hampshire,  and  of  the  province  of  the  Maffachufetts  Bay  in  N.  E.  being  in  a  com- 
fortable ftate  of  Health,  and  of  found  mind  and  memory  (for  which  God  be  praifd ) 
calling  to  mind  the  mortality  of  my  body,  knowing  that  tis  appointed  to  all  men  once 
to  dye  do  make  and  ordain  this  my  laft  will  and  Teftament  viz.  principally  and  firft 
of  all  I  do  Give  up  my  Soul  into  the  Hands  of. God  my  Creator  through  the  Lord 
Jefus  Chrift  my  Redeemer  thro  the  merits  of  whofe  death  and  paffion  I  hope  for  the 
forgivenefs  of  my  fins  and  to  inherit  eternall  life ;  my  Body  I  corfiitt  to  the  Earth  to 
be  decently  (not  pompoufly)  buried  at  the  difcretion  of  my  friends,  having  hope  of 
the  Refurreftion  of  the  fame  &c.  And  as  touching  fuch  worldly  Eftate  which  the 
divine  Bounty  hath  been  pleafd  to  lend  me,  I  do  give  and  difpofe  of  the  Same,  in  the 
following  manner  viz :  firft  my  mind  and  will  is,  that  all  thofe  debts  and  dues,  that  I 
do  owe  in  right  or  confidence,  to  any  perfon  whatfoever  mail  be  paid  by  my  Execu- 
tors (Hereafter  to  be  named)  in  a  fuitable  time  after  my  deceafe.  And  my  mind  and 
will  is  that  the  meat,  meal,  Tallow,  candles,  fugar  &c  and  fuch  like  neceffaries  in  the 
Houfe,  as  likewife  the  Grafs,  and  Grain  that  fhall  be  on  the  Ground,  and  the  Hay 
and  Grain  that  fhall  be  in  the  Barn,  at  the  Time  of  my  death,  and  the  Grain  that 
fhall  be  in  the  chambers  or  Garretts  of  the  Houfe,  fhall  not  be  reckoned  as  part  of 
my  Eftate,  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  divifion  of  it ;  but  they  fhall  be  for  the  ufe  of 
my  family  and  for  the  family  of  my  fon  Sam1.  Item,  my  mind  and  will  is,  that  my 
Executors  take  fpeciall  care  that  the  Agreement  made  between  me  and  my  prefent 
wife  Sarah,  be  fullfilled  and  complyd  with  according  to  the  true  intention  and  mean- 
ing thereof,  by  procuring  for  her  what  fhe  is  to  Have  by  fd  Agreement,  or  jointure, 
which  was  made  before  our  marriage  :  I  do  alfo  giye  to  my  dear  wife  Sarah  (in  cale 
fhe  outlive  me)  my  mourning  ring,  befides  what  fhe  is  to  have  by  the  above  fd 
Agreement  or  jointure. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  fon  John  Williams,  His  Heirs  or  Executors  &c 
— my  Quarto  Bible,  containing  the  Apocrypha  &c — and  twenty  (hillings  worth,  or 
value  of  my  other  Englifh  books  or  pamphlets,  &c. 

Item.  I  give  to  my  fon  Sam1  Williams,  His  Heirs,  Executors,  &c.  Mr  Burkett's 
edition  of  the  New  Teftament,  that  is  now  in  the  Hands  of  his  brother  Nathan.  I 
give  him  alfo  twenty  millings  worth  of  my  other  Englifh  books  or  pamphlets  of 
pra6licall  piety  or  devotion  &c.  Item  I  give  to  my  daughter  Eunice  Stebbins,  Her 
Heirs,  Executors,  &c.  Dr  Guife's  Paraphrafe  of  the  Evangelifts,  (which  was  given 
me  by  His  Excellency  Governor  Belcher,  deceafd  .)  I  give  her  alfo  of  my  other  Eng- 
lifh books  or  pamphletts  &c.  ye  value  of  twenty  fhillings  &c.  Item  I  give  to  my 
daughter,  Martha  Raynolds,  Her  Heirs,  Executors,  &c. — the  Revd  Mr  Willard's  Ex- 
pofition  of  the  Affemblies  Catechifm,  as  alfo  to  the  value  of  twenty  fhillings  of  my 
Englifh  books  and  pamphletts. 

My  mind  and  will  is,  that  my  fons  John  and  Sam'  do  take  care  of,  and  provide  for 
Phillis  negro,  what  is  proper  and  needfull,  and  comfortable  for  her,  fo  long  as  fhe 
lives,  and  in  confederation  thereof,  I  do  give  to  my  fd  fons,  John  and  Sam1,  their 
Heirs,  and  Affiigns,  my  negro  fervant  Peter,  to  John  and  Sam1  I  fay,  in  equall  pro- 


1 89 

portion ;  that  is  that  one  (hall  have  one  half,  and  the  other  the  other  half,  of  right  or 
intereft  in  him. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  fons  John  and  Sam1  their  Heirs,  Executors, 
and  that  in  equall  proportion,  all  my.  ftock  of  Horfes,  neat  Cattle,  Sheep  and  Hogs, 
and  all  my  Hufbandry  utenfils,  carts,  ploughs,  chains,  &c  &c,'  my  faddles,  bridles,  &c 
— that  I  (hall  dye  poffeffed  of,  and  all  my  money,  or  what  is  due  to  me,  (excepting 
what  is  due  for  Land,  fold  to  Mr  John  Kirtland  in  Merryfield).  this  Bequest  of  crea- 
tures, Hufbandry  utenfils,  money,  &c. — is  upon  condition  that  they,  (i.  e.  my  ions 
John  and  Sam1)  pay  all  the  debts  and  dues  from  me  at  my  deceal'e,  and  fullfill  the 
Articles  of  Agreement  between  me  and  my  prefent  wife  Sarah  made  before  our  mar- 
riage ;  as  alfo  that  they  are  at  the  expenle  of  my  funerall ;  as  alfo  that  they  take  care 
of  me  and  my  wife,  during  my  natural!  life,  without  expenle  of  their  Brethren  or 
Sifters,  or  any  deduction  from  the  Bequefts  that  fhall  be  made  to  them  or  either  of 
them,  &c. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  Belovd  fon,  John  Williams,  His  Heirs  and 
Affigns,  befides  Farm  at  Somers,  that  he  lives  upon,  (and  which  I  have  given  him  a 
deed  of),  I  give  him^  I  fay,  ten  acres  of  land  in  Wales,  belonging  to  or  part  of  the 
Land,  granted  to  Cap'  Thos.  Colton,  deceafd ,  lying  and  being  in  a  place  called 
Wales.  I  do  alfo  give  to  my  fon  John,  His  Heirs,  &c.  all  the  Land  belonging  to  me 
lying  Eaft  of  the  Farm  that  was  Ebenezer  Jones  fo  as  to  extend  to  the  ftream  or  brook 
called  Scantick,  and  this  bequell  has  thefe  conditions  annexed  to  it,  viz.  y'  he  pay  his 
brother  Warham  ye  fum  of  two  pound,  lawfull  money,  within  one  year  after  my  de- 
ceafe  if  he  does  not  do  it  before  ;  and  to  each  of  his  lifters  (i  e  Eunice  and  Martha) 
one  cow,  within  a  year  after  my  deceafe,  if  not  done  before,  &c. 

Item.  Whereas  my  fon  Sam1  hath  lived  with  me  and  labourd  for  me,  from  his 
arriving  to  the  age  of  twenty  one  year  to  the  tyme  of  his  marriage,  (which  was  near 
ten  years),  which  fervice  meritts  a  particular  notice  and  reward,  I  defire  this  may  be 
born  upon  ye  mind  of  all  my  children :  and  let  it  be  remembered,  that  I  do  give  and 
bequeath  to  my  Belovd  Son,  Sam1  Williams,  His  Heirs  and  Affigns,  my  Home  Lot, 
manfion  Houfe  and  Barn,  and  all  the  buildings  on  the  Lot,  and  I  do  give  and  be- 
queath to  him  &c — all  the  Land  I  have  in  Longmeadow  or  any  other  part  of  Spring- 
field, as  alfo  all  my  Land  in  Wales  ( fo  called)  lying  Eaft  of  the  Rivulet  called  Scan- 
tick,  excepting  what  is  devifed  and  given  to  my  fon  John  ;  the  land  I  give  to  my 
fon  Sam1  in  Wales  is  thus  Bound'1  viz.  fouth  on  the  province  line,  eaft  on  Brimfield, 
.north  on  Land  that  did  belong  to  Mr  Jofeph  Chaffee,  and  weft  on  the  Brook  calld 
Scantick,  and  on  ye  ten  Acres  bequeathed  to  my  fon  John ;  thefe  lands,  Buildings 
and  Appurtenances  belonging  to  them  I  do  give  and  bequeath  to  my  fon  Sam1,  His 
Heirs  and  Affigns,  upon  condition,  that  he  ye  fd  Sam1  do  give  a  deed  of  that  land 
lying  and  being  in  Wales  aforefd  — that  I  gave  him  a  deed  of,  (i.  e.  fo  much  of  it  as 
lyeth  weft  of  the  aforefd  Rivulet  or  Brook)  unto  his  Brother  John  Williams,  and  do 
pay  to  his  Brother  Warham  Williams,  the  fum  of  two  pound,  lawfull  money  within 
a  year  after  my  deceafe  &c  and  to  each  of  his  lifters  a  cow,  within  a  year  after  my 
deceafe,  if  it  be  not  done  before. 

Furthermore  with  refpect  to  my  other  five  children,  viz  :  Stephen,  Warham,  Na- 
than, Eunice  and  Martha,  I  do  declare  that  my  mind,  and  will  is  that  including  what 
they  have  Allready  had,  for  Education,  and  what  has  been  advanced  to  them  for  fet- 
tlement,  and  what  I  have  ordered  and  directed  my  fons,  John  and  Sam1,  to  advance 
for  and  pay  to  Any  of  them,  my  mind  and  will  (I  fay)  is  that  they  fhall  have  each  of 
them,  to  the  Amount  or  value  of  two  Hundred,  thirty  one  pound,  eight  milling,  and 
four  pence,  which  I  expect,  will  and  order,  that  they  have  or  receive  out  of  my  Land, 


190 

in  Stafford  in  Connecticutt,  and  my  land  eaft  of  Stockbridge,  (in  a  Tract  of  Land, 
called  the  minifter's  Farm,  or  the  minifter's  Land),  which  Land  I  eftimate  or  value 
at  the  following  rates  or  prices,  and  expect  they  be  fo  accounted  in  the  Bequeaths  or 
devizes,  hereafter  mention"1 .  I  do  I  fay,  Eftimate  the  Land  I  have  lyeing  and  being 
in  Stafford,  in  the  colony  of  Connecticutt,  (which  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres),  I 
do  I  fay  eftimate  or  value  it,  at  ten  (hillings  lawfull  money  per  acre ;  and  the  Land 
lyeing  and  being  Eaft  of  Stockbridge  (which  I  account  is  two  hundred  and  fourty 
or  fivety  acres),  I  eftimate  and  value  at  ten  millings  per  acre,  yet  fo,  that  if  it  prove 
but  two  hundred  and  fourty  acres,  ye  whole  (hall  be  account"1  of  ye  value  of  one  hun- 
dred twenty  five  pound, — thefe  things  premifd  or  what  I  expect  to  be  obfervd  or  at- 
tended to  :  I  do  proceed  to  fay,  that  inafmuch  as  I  have  advanced  to  my  belovd  fon 
Stephen  Williams  the  fum  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  his  Education  at  School  and 
College,  and  towards  his  Settlement  I  have  advanced  the  fum  fourty  Eight  pound, 
four  (hilling  and  eleven  pence,  I  do  now  will  and  bequeath  to  him,  thirty  one  pound, 
(even  pence  to  be  paid  out  of  ye  money,  due  to  me,  upon  the  mortgages  of  ye  Land 
at  Merryfield,  which  mortgages  were  given  to  me  by  John  Kirtland,  of  fd  Merryfield. 
I  do  further  give,  bequeath  and  devize  to  my  fd  fon  Stephen,  Hi!  Heirs  and  Affigns, 
to  ye  value  of  fivety  two  pound,  three  (hillings  and  ten  pence,  which  he  is  to  receive  or 
have  out  of  my  Land  in  Stafford  aforefd :  the  whole  advanced  to  him  before  and 
now  bequeathed,  amounting  to  the  fum  of  two  hundred  thirty  one  pound,  eight  (hil- 
lings, and  four  pence. 

Item,  inafmuch  as  I  have  advanced  to  my  Belovd  fon  Warham  Williams,  ye  fum 
of  one  hundred  pound,  lawfull  money,  for  his  Education  at  School  and  College,  and 
for  and  towards  his  fettlement,  I  have  advanced  ye  fum  of  one  hundred  twenty  eight 
pound  five  (hilling,  fo  that  I  do  account  he  has  received  of  me,  two  hundred  and 
twenty  eight  pound,  five  (hillings ;  I  do  give  and  bequeath  and  devize  to  him  my 
fd  fon  Warham,  His  Heirs  and  Affigns  to  ye  amount  or  value  of  three  pound,  three 
(hilling  and  four  pence,  out  of  the  Land  lyeing  eaft  of  Stockbridge ;  I  do  likewife 
give  and  bequeath  to  my  fd  fon  Warham,  His  Heirs  and  Affigns,  all  the  land  I  have 
left  at  New- Haven,  yet  unfold  ;  that  defcendd  to  me  or  to  my  brother  (the  Revd 
Warham  Williams,  late  of  Waltham,  deceafd )  from  our  Honour"5  uncle  Warham 
Mather,  Efqr  late  of  New  Haven,  deceafd  ....  I  have  purchafed  of  the  heirs  of 
my  Br  Warham  above  mentioned — all  their  right  and  title  to  fd  land. 

Item,  inafmuch  as  I  have  advanced  to  my  Belovd  Daughter,  Eunice  Stebbins,  for 
and  towards  her  fettlement,  ye  fum  of  ninety  pound,  one  (hilling  and  four  pence,  and  - 
have  advanced  to  her  in  money,  fivety  three  pound,  nine  milling  and  five  pence,  and 
have  ordered  her  Brethren  John  and  Sam1  (Each  of  them),  to  pay  or  deliver  to  her 
a  good  cow,  which  I  eftimate  at  three  pound  each  cow ;  fo  that  I  account  (he  has 
receivd  or  fecurd  to  her  ye  fum  of  one  hundred  fourty  nine  pound,  ten  (hillings  and 
nine  pence ;  I  do  further  give,  bequeath  and  devize  to  my  fd  daughter  Eunice,  her 
Heirs  and  Affigns,  to  y"  value  or  amount  of  feventy  three  pound,  fix  (hillings,  eleven 
pence  out  of  my  Land,  lyeing  and  being  in  Stafford  aforefd  and  to  ye  value  and 
amount  of  eight  pound,  ten  (hilling,  and  eight  pence  out  of  my  Land  lyeing  Eaft  of 
Stockbridge — y*  whole  advanced  to  her  and  now  bequeathed  amounts  to  ye  fum  of 
two  hundred,  thirty  one  pound  eight  milling  and  four  pence. 

Item,  inafmuch  as  I  have  advanced  to  my  Belovd  Daughter  Martha  Raynolds,  for 
and  towards  her  fettlement,  ye  fum  of  one  hundred  fiveteen  pound,  (even  (hilling 
and  five  pence,  and  have  orderd  her  Brethren  John  and  Sam1,  each  of  them,  to  pay 
or  deliver  to  her  a  good  cow,  which  I  value  at  three  pound  pr  cow,  and  1  have  ad- 
vanced to  her  in  money,  fivety  pound  ;  fo  that  I  account  (he  has  receivd  or  has  fecured 


to  her,  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  feventy  one  pound,  feven  (hillings  and  five 
pence,  and  I  do  further  give  and  bequeath  and  devife  to  her,  fd  Martha,  Her  Heirs 
and  Affigns  to  ye  value  or  amount  of  Sixty  pound  and  eleven  pence,  out  of  my  Land 
lyeing  Eaft  of  Stockbridge,  the  whole  advanced  to  her  and  now  bequeathed  amounts 
to  the  ye  fum  of  two  hundred  thirty  one  pound,  Eight  (hilling  and  four  pence. 

Item,  inafmuch  as  I  have  advancd  to  my  Belovd  fon  Nathan  Williams  ye  fum  of 
one  Hundred  pound,  lawfull  money  for  his  Education  at  School  and  at  College,  and 
for  and  towards  his  fettlement  I  have  advanced  thirty  three  millings  and  three 
pence,  and  have  advanced  to  him,  by  land,  fconveyd  to  him,  in  Merryfield,  by  Mr 
John  Kirtland,  purchafed  or  paid  for  by  me)  to  the  amount  of  fourty  five  pound,  fo 
that  I  account  he  has  receivd  of  me  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  feventy  Eight 
pound,  three  (hillings  and  three  pence,  and  I  do  further  give  bequeath  and  devize  to 
my  fdfon  Nathan,  His  Heirs  and  Affigns  to  ye  value  or  amount  of  fivety  three  pounds, 
five  (hillings  and  one  penny  out  of  my  Land  lyeing  and  being  Eaft  of  Stockbridge, 
ye  whole  advanced  to  him  and  now  bequeathed  amounts  to  the  fum  of  two  hundred 
thirty  one  pound,  Ejght  (hillings,  and  four  pence. 

Furthermore,  my  mind  and  will  is,  that  all  my  Books  not  allready  difpofed  of  or 
given  away,  and  all  my  indoor  moveables,  fuch  as  beds,  bedding,  tables,  chairs,  lin- 
nen,  pewter,  Brafs,  iron,  Silver  cup,  Silver  fpoons,  looking  Glaffes,  yea  all  proper  in- 
door moveables  or  Houfehold  Stuff,  be  eftimated  or  valued,  (either  by  my  children 
themfelves,  or  fome  other  perfons  they  (hall  choofe),  and  when  eftimated  or  valued, 
be  divided  into  five  equall  parts,  as  to  worth  or  value,  and  I  do  give  and  Bequeath 
to  my  five  children,  that  is  to  fay,  Stephen,  Warham,  Nathan,  Eunice,  and  Martha, 
to  each  of  them  refpectively,  their  Heirs,  Executors,  Adminiftrators,  and  Affigns, 
one  fifth  part  of  the  whole  ;  i.  e.  to  Stephen,  His  Heirs,  &c,  one  fifth  part ;  to  War- 
ham,  His  Heirs,  &c,  one  fifth  part ;  to  Nathan,  His  Heirs,  &c,  one  fifth  part ;  to 
Eunice,  Her  Heirs,  &c,  one  fifth  part ;  to  Martha,  her  Heirs  one  fifth  part,  the 
three  fons  to  have  the  Books,  as  far  as  they  will  go  towards  their  parts  ;  and  the 
daughters  to  have  the  firft  choice,  as  to  ye  movables.  I  defire  Stephen  may  have 
Dr.  Guife's  Paraphrafe,  Warham  Mr  Stackhoufe's  Body  of  Divinity,  and  Nathan  Mr 
Henry's  Annotations  &c. 

But  principally  and  above  all,  I  give,  and  bequeath  as  my  laft  legacy,  to  all  my 
dear  children,  my  ferious  and  folemn  advice,  that  they  choofe  the  Lord  Jehovah  for 
their  GOD.  "  He  hath  been  my  Father's  God,  and  I  truft  and  humbly  hope,  mine 
alfo,  He  hath  been  with  me  in  great  difficulties,  and  troubles.  He  has  remarkably 
helped,  delivered,  and  faved  me.  I  do  recomend  him  to  my  children,  folemnly 
charging  them  to  make  it  their  firft  care  to  feek  peace  with  God  and  reconciliation 
thro'  a  crucifyd  Chri/l,  and  being  reconcild  to  make  it  their  perpetuall  ftudy  to  pleafe 
him  in  all  things  ;  it  is  my  repeated  charge  to  them  all  to  follow  GOD,  follow  him 
early,  follow  him  fully.  I  have  devotd  you  all  to  God ;  and  there  is  nothing  I  fo  much 
defire  for  you,  my  dear  children,  as  to  HAVE  this  ftand;  that  you  may  be  the  Lord's, 
and  ferve  him,  with  a  perfect  heart,  and  willing  mind  ;  the  LORD  GOD  himfelf  de- 
termine your  hearts  to  feek  him,  and  may  he  be  your  portion  and  provide  for  you." 
See  Chronicles  xxviii :  9. 

Finally  I  nominate  and  appoint  my  belovd  fons,  John  and  Sam1,  to  be  my  fole 
executors  of  this  my  laft  will  and  Teftament,  and  I  give  and  bequeath,  my  black 
cloak,  and  my  two  beftt  black  coats,  to  my  three  fons,  Stephen,  Warham,  and.  Na- 
than, they  to  agree,  to  take  each  one  of  them,  one  of  thefe  garments,  as  may  beft 
fuit  &c. 

25 


1 92 

And  inafmuch  as  I  expect,  and  direct,  my  executors  to  difcharge  all  my  debts  and 
dues  (as  fpec'fyd  in  the  firft  leaf,  or  folio  of  this  inftrument)  I  do  further  give  and 
bequeath,  to  my  above  mentioned  executors,  my  fons  John  and  Sam1,  all  my  wearing 
apparell  of  every  kind,  the  cloak  and  the  two  black  coats,  above  mentioned,  ex- 
cepted.  I  do  alfo  give  and  bequeath  to  my  fd  executors,  all  the  right,  and  title,  I 
have  to  the  land  in  South-Hampton  that  was  my  Honourd  uncle's  Warham  Mather, 
Esq.  late  of  New  Haven,  deceafd  I  do  give  to  them,  their  Heirs  and  Afligns,  equally 
my  right  and  title  to  fd  land ;  to  them  alfo  I  give  all  my  eftate — whether  reall  or  per-  , 
fonall,  that  I  have  anywhere,  whatfoever,  that  I  have  not  alienatd ,  bequeathd  ,  de- 
vifd ,  or  given  away  by  this  will  or  fome  other  way.  And  I  do  by  thefe  prefents,  re- 
voke and  disanull,  all  wills  and  teftaments,  by  me  made  heretofore,  declaring  them 
to  be  null,  and  of  no  force,  or  virtue. 

And  I  do  confirm  this  to  be  my  laft  will  and  Teftament,  in  witnefs  whereof  I  have 
hereunto  fet  my  hand  and  feal,  the  day  and  year  before  mentioned. 

STEPHEN  WILLIAMS. 

Signed — fealed — publifhd  and  pronounced  by  fd  Stephen  Williams,  that  what  is 
above  and  contained  in  the  three  preceding  pages,  or  folios,  is  his  laft  will  and  tefta- 
ment,  in  prelence  of  us,  who  fign  as  witneifes,  in  the  prefence  and  at  the  defire  of 
the  Teftator,  &c. 

NATH1  BURT, 

GIDEON  BURT, 

NATH1  ELY,  4th, 

JACOB  CHAPIN. 

A  CODICILL  OR  SCHEDULE  TO  MY  WILL  OR  TESTAMENT. 

Know  All  men,  by  thefe  prefents,  that  I  Stephen  Williams  of  Springfd ,  Clerk,  do  on 
this  eleventh  of  Auguft,  1773,  declare  my  approbation  and  confirmation  of  my  will  da- 
ted the  fixth  of  March  1771.  And  now  add  this  Codicill,  or  Schedule  thereto,  viz.  I  do 
give  to  my  dear  wife  Sarah,  in  cafe  (he  outlives  me,  the  free  ufe  and  improvement  of  the 
North  Room  of  my  Houfe,  and  the  ufe  of  the  Cellar,  as  far  as  fhe  needs,  with  free  lib- 
erty of  paffing  to  and  from  the  fd  room,  to  the  well,  and  ftreet,  &c,  fo  long  as  fhe  contin- 
ues my  widow  ;  this  is  to  be  underftood  as  liberty  for  her  and  family  to  live  in,  and 
not  to  Let  or  Leafe  to  any  other  perfons.  Item,  inafmuch  as  my  fon  John  Williams 
is  in  an  infirm  ftate  of  health,  I  do  nominate  and  appoint  my  Belovd  Son-in-Law, 
Sam1  Raynolds,  Efqr  of  Somers,  an  Executor  of  my  laft  will  and  teftament,  in  con- 
junction with  my  Belovd  fons,  John  and  Sam1  mentioned  in  my  will,  and  expect  my 
fd  fon-in-law  be  paid  for  his  trouble  and  pains  out  of  money  that  may  be  due  to  me  at 
my  deceafe,  or  out  of  the  flock,  or  Hufbandry  utenfils,  &c. 

STEPHEN  WILLIAMS. 

Signd  feald  and  pronouncd  by  fd  Stephen  Williams,  that  the  above  Codicill  is  his 
will  and  mind,  in  the  prefence  of  us  who  fign  as  witnefles  in  the  prefencfe  and  at  the 
defire  of  fd  Stephen  Williams. 

NATH1  BURT, 

GIDEON  BURT, 

JACOB  CHAPIN. 


193 

QUARTERMASTER  GEORGE  COLTON'S  WILL. 

I  George  Colton  of  Springfield  in  Hampfhire  of  the  Province  of  the  Maffachu- 
fetts  Bay  in  New  England  being  fenfible  of  the  weaknefs  of  my  Body  and  yet 
through  the  Mercies  of  GOD  having  comfortable  ufe  of  my  Underftanding  and 
Memory  and  not  knowing  how  foon  my  Change  (hall  come,  do  make  this  my  laft 
Will  and  Teftament  as  followeth.  Imp,  I  commit  my  foul  into  the  hands  of  GOD 
who  made  it,  and  unto  Jefus  Chrifl  who  hath  redeemed  it,  and  my  Body  I  defire 
when  it  fhall  pleafe  the  Lord  to  releafe  me  hence,  that  it  may  be  committed  unto  the 
Earth  in  decent  manner,  there  to  lie  till  the  Refurreclion  of  the  Juft  when  Body  and 
Soul  mall  be  united  by  a  Joyful  Refurre&ion,  which  I  hope  for  through  the  Lord 
Jefus  Chrift.  And  as  for  my  Worldly  Goods  and  Eftate  which  the  Lord  hath  gra- 
cioufly  beftowed  on  me  I  difpofe  of  it  as  followeth. 

I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  four  fons  Isaac,  Ephraim,  Thomas  and  John  all  my 
Lands  in  Springfield  to  be  after  my  deceafe  equally  divided  between  them,  and  to 
continue  to  them  and  their  male  Heirs  and  of  their  own  Bodies  lawfully  begotten 
forever,  and  for  want  of  male  Heirs,  to  their  Female  Heirs  of  their  own  Bodies 
lawfully  begotten  forever.  Provided  always  and  my  further  will  and  meaning  is  that 
my  fd  four  fons  Shall  pay  unto  their  three  natural  Sifters,  my  own  Daughters,  the 
fum  of  Forty  Pounds  apiece  in  good  merchantable  form  at  current  Prices,  or  in 
Cattle  as  they  Ihall  be  indifferently  prized  (Horfe  flefh  only  excepted  unlefs  they  de- 
fire them.)  Further  my  will  is  that  the  Forty  pounds  apiece  which  my  three  Daugh- 
ters are  to  receive  iliall  be  paid  to  them  or  their  Heirs  within  the  Compafs  of  Six 
Years  after  my  Deceafe.  Further  my  Will  is  that  my  fd  four  fons  fhall  pay  unto  my 
daughter  Sara,  deceafed  her  three  Children  Rebecca,  Sam1  and  Jofeph  the  fum  of 
Forty  pounds  in  Current  pay  as  aforefci  viz,  unto  Rebecca  Twenty  Pounds  and  to 
Sam1  and  Jofeph  ten  pounds  apiece  when  they  come  to  be  Married  and  Settled  in 
the  World.  Provided  always  and  my  further  will  is  that  if  my  fon  John  fhall  have 
a  male  Heir  that  his  Land  fhall  pay  unto  his  now  Daughter  Abigail  Fifty  Pounds  in 
Current  Country  pay,  and  in  cafe  of  no  male  Heir  then  the  aforefd  Abigail  mail 
pay  out  unto  the  reft  of  the  Children  if  there  be  any  what  indifferent  Judges  mail 
think  to  be  convenient.  And  for  the  performance  of  the  Legacies  aforefd  to  my  fd 
three  Daughters  all  my  aforefd  lands  mall  be  obliged  to  be  refponfible,  provided  al- 
ways, and  my  further  will  and  meaning  is  that  if  either  of  my  fons  their  Heir  or 
Heirs  or  either  of  them  do  or  ihall  attempt  or  go  about  to  do  any  act  or  acts,  thing 
or  things  to  alien  or  difcontinue  the  Lands  bequeathed  unto  them  or  any  Part  or 
parcel  thereof  as  abovefd  by  me  bequeathe4  unto  them  either  by  fale  Feoff ment 
Mortgage  or  otherwife  by  any  ways  or  means,  fo  that  the  f  Lands  and  every  Part 
and  Parcel  thereof  may  not  or  cannot  defcend,  come,  revert  and  remain  and  be  in 
manner  and  form  as  before  in  this  my  laft  Will  and  Teftament  limited  declared  and 
appointed  and  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  hereof,  that  then  immedi- 
ately and  from  thenceforth  the  Eftate,  Intereft  or  Title  of  him  or  them  so  attempt- 
ing or  going  about  any  fuch  A61  or  Acls,  thing  or  things  (as  aforefd)  of  and  in  the 
fd  Land  and  any  part  thereof  fhall  ceafe  and  be  fully  and  clearly  determined  and 
extinguimed  and  that  then  immediately  and  thenceforth  the  fame  remain  and  belong 
to  fuch  perfon  or  perfons  as  by  this  my  laft  Will  and  Teftament  is  limited  and  appointed 
in  fuch  manner  and  form  and  upon  the  like  Conditions  as  though  he  or  they  fo  at- 
tempting or  going  about  any  fuch  Act  or  Acts,  thing  or  things  as  aforefd  in  form 
aforefd  were  departed  this  Life  anything  before  in  this  my  laft  Will  and  Teftament 
mentioned  and  declared  to  the  contrary  notwithftanding. 


194 

And  I  do  make  and  ordain  my  two  Eldeft  fons  Ifaac  and  Ephraim  my  whole  and 
fole  Executors  of  this  my  laft  Will  and  Teftament  and  in  cafe  of  any  Ambiguity  or 
Doubt,  my  defire  is  they  fliould  explain  and  interpret  the  Same  according  to  their 
wifdom  and  underftanding  of  the  fame. 

And  in  witnefs  hereof  that  this  is  my  laft  Will  and  Teftament,  I  have  hereunto  let 
my  hand  and  feal  this  2nd  day  of  April  1697  and  in  the  9th  year  of  the  reign  of  Wm 
ye  2rd  King  of  England  &c. 
Signed  fealed  in  pretence   of  GEORGE  +  COLTON. 


BENJ  +  BROOKS    JNO  HOLKOKE 

Diark 

HAMPSHIRE  ss  Jan>"  n"1  f?{J| 

Ifaac  Colton  and  Ephraim  Colton  prefented  the  above  Inftrument  as  their  Father 
George  Colton  dec"  his  laft  will  and  teftament  when  (before  me  Judge  of  Probate) 
appeared  Mr  Jno  Holyoke  and  BenJ  Brooks  each  of  whom  made  Oath  that  being 
prefent  at  the  time  of  it  they  faw  George  Colton,  then  of  found  difpofing  mind,  fign 
and  feal  the  fame  as  his  laft  will  and  teftament,  to  which  they  then  fet  their  hands  as 
witneffes  with  the  other  two  perfons  now  abfent. 

Sworn  to  Jan>  IIth  IfgJJ  before  JNO  PYNCHON  Hampfhire  Probate  Office. 
In  the  fettlement  of  Ifaac  Colton's  Eftate  Sept.  25th  1700  is  as  follows  — 
"  And  whereas  Qur  George  Colton,  father  to  fd  Ifaac  Colton  decd,  by  his  laft 
"will  and  teftament  did  fettle  certain  lands  in  Springfield  to  the  value  of  .£318.17.9 
"  unto  his  f'1  fon  and  the  male  heirs  of  his  body  lawfully  together  equally,  and  there 
"  being  fons  each  one's  equal  fhare  is,  to  George  Colton  one  of  -fd  male  heirs 
.£106.5.10  —  to  Jofeph  Colton  2d  of  fd  male  heirs  ^"106.5.10  —  and  to  BenJ  Colton  a 
3rJ  male  heir  ;£  106.5.10  —  all  which  to  be  fet  out  to  them  in  f  appropriate  Lands  as 
to  quantity  and  quality  equally  which  is  moft  agreeable  to  the  fame  aforefd  will,  and 
the  f*  Jofeph  and  BenJ  'Colton  not  being  yet  of  age  to  receive  their  fd  portions,  the 
fd  Mary  Colton  their  Mother  to  have  the  ufe  and  improvement  of  their  fhares  or 
parts  in  Lands  till  they  come  of  age,  viz  21  years  of  age,  and  if  either  or  any  of 
them  die  before  of  age  the  furvivor  to  receive  it  in  proportion  according  to  the  will 
of  the  decd. 

Sept.  25.  1701.  PRECINCT  TAX  WARRANT. 

Hampfli:  ff.     To   Nathanael   Ely  Conftable  of  the  town  of  Springfield  within  the 

County  of  Hampfhire  Greeting  — 

In  his  maisties  name  you  are  Required  to  Levy  and-Collect  of  the  Several  Per- 
fons named  in  the  Lift  Herewith  Committed  unto  you  each  one  his  Respective  Pro- 
portion therein  Set  down  of  the  Sum  Total  of  Such  Lift  Being  a  tax  of  affeffment 
Granted  and  agreed  upon  by  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Precinct  of  Longmeadow  within 
the  Sd  town  Regularly  affembled  for  Defreying  of  the  neceflary  Charges  arifing 
within  the  Same  and  to  deliver  and  pay  in  the  Sum  and  Sums  which  you  fhall  So 
Levy  and  Collect  unto  Charles  Pynchon  treafurer  of  the  Sd  Precinct  and  to  Com- 
pleat  and  make  up  an  account  of  your  Collections  of  the  whole  Sum  at  on  or  before 
the  forth  Day  of  May  next  and  if  any  perfon  or  perfons  fhall  neglect  or  Refufe  to 
make  payment  of  the  Sum  or  Sums  whereat  he  or  they  are  Refpe&ively  affeffed  and 
fet  in  the  Sd  Lift  to  deftrein  the  Goods  or  Chatties  of  fuch  perfon  to  the  Value 
thereof  and  the  Diftrefs  or  Diftreffes  fo  taken  to  keep  by  the  Space  of  four  Days  at 


195 

the  coft  and  charge  of  the  owner,  and  if  the  owner  do  notj>ay  the  Sum  or  Sums  of 
money  fo  affeffed  upon  him  within  the  fa  four  Days,  then  the  f  Diftrefs  or  Diftreffes 
lo  taken  you  are  to  Expofe  and  openly  Sell  at  an  outcry  for  payment  of  the  f  money 
and  Charges,  notice  of  fuch  Sale  being  pofted  up  in  ibme  Public  place  within  the 
fame  precin6t  twenty  four  hours  beforehand  and  the  overplus  coming  by  fa  Sale  if 
any  be  befides  the  Sum  or  Sums  of  the  Affeffment  and  the  Charges  of  taking  and 
Keeping  of  the  Diftreffes  to  be  Immediately  Reftored  to  the  Owner  and  for  want  of 
Goods  or  Chattels  whereon  to  make  Diftrefs,  you  are  to  feize  the  Body  or  Bodies  of 
the  perfon  or  perfons  fo  Refufing  and  him  or  them  Commit  unto  the  Common  Goal 
of  the  fu  County  there  to  Remain  until  he  or  they  pay  and  Satisfy  the  feveral  Sum 
or  Sums  whereat  they  are  ^Reflectively  affeffed  as  aforef  unlefs  upon  application 
made  to  the  Court  of  General  Sefiions  of  the  Peace  the  fame  or  any  part  thereof 
lhall  be  abated. 

Dated  in  Longmeadow  in  Springfield  the  22  Day  of  January.  In  the  twenty  firfl 
year  of  his  majesties  Reign  Anoq  Dom.  1749.  (Signed) 

EPHRAIM  COLTON  JuNr  ) 

JOHN  HALE  >  Affeffors. 

AARON  COOLEY  ) 

TOWN  INCORPORATION  ACT. 

An  A6t  to  incorporate  the  Second  Parifh  in  Springfield  called  Longmeadow,  into  a 
Town  by  the  Name  of  Longmeadow. 

Whereas  it  is  reprefented  by  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Sd  Parifh,  that  they  labour 
under  great  burdens  and  inconveniences  by  reafon  of  their  Situation,  and  the  Sepa- 
rate Interefts'in  the  S"  Town  ;  and  it  appears  to  this  Court  to  be  expedient  that  the 
Sd  Parifh  be  incorporated  into  a  Separate  Town  : 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  Hous  of  Reprefentatives  in  General  Court  affem- 
bled  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Same.  That  the  Second  parifh  in  Springfield 
called  Longmeadow,  in  the  County  of  Hampmire  and  all  that  tract  of  Land  known 
by  that  name  and  bounded  as  Follows,  viz.  Weft  on  Connecticut  River,  South  on 
the  towns  of  Somers  and  Endfield,  Eaft  on  Wilbraham  and  North  begining  at  the 
mouth  of  Pecoufick-Brook  (so  called)  and  runing  eaft  on  the  parifh  line  to  the 
Town  of  Wilbraham,  be,  and  hereby  is  incorporated  into  a  Town  by  the  Name  of 
Longmeadow,  with  all  the  powers  privileges  and  immunities  that  towns  in  this  Com- 
monwealth have  or  do  enjoy;  and  that  the  Sd  town  of  Longmeadow  pay  its  juft 
proportion  of  publick  taxes  affeffed  on  the  Sd  town  of  Springfield,  agreeable  to  the 
prefent  valuation,  and  untill  a  new  valuation  is  taken,  and  bear  its  due  proportion  of 
the  expence  and  charges  towards  the  Suppoart  of  the  prefent  poor  thereof,  and  pay 
its  proportional  part  of  the  publick  debts  now  owed  by  the  Sd  Town,  and  receive  its 
Shares  of  publick  Moneys  and  Debts  now  due  to  the  Sd  town,  and  the  common 
Stock  thereof,  in  the  Same  proportion  that  they  paid  to  the  laft  State  tax  affeffed  on 
the  town  of  Springfield. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  that  the  Honorble  John  Blifs  Efqr  be  and  he  is  hereby 
impowered  to  iffue  his  warrant  to  Some  principal  inhabitant  of  the  Su  town  of 
Longmeadow  requiring  him  to  call  a  Meeting  of  the  Sd  inhabitents  in  order  to  chufe 
Such  officers  as  by  Law  towns  are  impowered  to  chufe  in  the  month  of  March 
annually. 

This  aft  Faffed  October  13th  1783. 


196 

DROWNED  LANDS'  WARRANT. 

The  following  warrant  for  the  compulsory  levying  of  a  tax  upon  the 
proprietors  of  the  flooded  "  Drowned "  or  "  Pond "  portions  of  the 
meadow  land,  under  the  highest  authority  of  the  Commonwealth 
nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  may  well  engage  the  attention  of  the  same 
proprietors,  or  of  the  town  itself,  as  a  possible  precedent  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  when  the  area  of  the  same  lands  is  apparently  annually  in- 
creasing and  their  malarious  influence  more  and  more  suspected  : 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  HAMPSHIRE  Ss. 
To  Ebenezer  Blifs  Collector  for  the  Proprietors  of  the  Drowned  Land  in  the  Town 

of  Longmeadow  within  this  Commonwealth  of  Maffachufetts  in  the  County  of 

Hampfhire  Greeting — 

In  the  Name  of  the  Governor  and  Councel  of  the  f  Commonwealth  of  Maffachu- 
setts  you  are  hereby  required  to  levy  and  Collect  of  the  feveral  Parfons  named  in 
the  Lift  herewith  Committed  unto  you  each  one,  his  refpective  proportion,  therein 
fet  down,  of  the  Some  total  of  fuch  lift,  it  being  .£20.16.6  each  proprietor  propor- 
tion of  a  Tax  or  Affeffment  of  twenty  Pound,  Sixteen  Shilling  and  Six  pence,  Agreed 
upon  by  the  Commiffioners  appointed  by  his  Excellency  the  Governor  and  Councel 
aforefd,  at  a  meeting  appointed  for  that  purpofe  in  f'1  Longmeadow  on  the  fifth  Day 
of  May  Seventeen  Hundred  and  eighty  five,  for  defraying  the  neceffary  Charges  of 
Dreaning  and  Flowing  fj  weat  or  Drowned  lands  of  f(i  proprietors  and  you  are  to 
tranfmit  and  Pay  in  the  fame  unto  Mr  Sam1  Keep  Treafurer  and  recever  of  the  above 
fd  Tax,  appointed  by  the  Commiffioners  of  fd  weat  lands  or  to  his  fucceffor  in  that 
Office,  and  to  Compleat  and  make  up  an  account  of  your  collection  of  the  whol  fum 
on  or  before  the  firft  Day  of  April,  feventeen  Hundred  and  eaghty  eaght  and  if  any 
paribn  fliall  refufe  or  neglect  to  pay  the  Sum  he  or  fhe  is  affeffed  in  the  fd  lift  to  Dif- 
train  the  Goods  or  Chattels  of  fuch  parfons  to  the  Value  thereof  and  the  Diftrefs  fo 
taken,  to  keep  for  the  fpace  of  four  Days  at  the  Coll  and  Charges  of  the  owner  and 
if  he  or  fhe  fhall  not  pay  the  fame  fo  affeffed,  within  fd  four  Days  then  you  are  to  fell 
at  Public  Vandue  the  Diftrefs  fo  taken  for  the  payment  thereof  with  Charges,  firft 
giving  forty  eaght  hours  notice  of  fuch  fale  by  porting  up  adyertifements  thereof  in 
fome  public  place  in  the  Town,  and  the  overplus  arifing  by  fuch  fale  if  any  there  be, 
befides  the  fum  affeffed  and  the  neceffary  Charges  of  taking  and  keeping  the  Diftrefs, 
You  are  immediately  to  reftore  to  the  owner ;  and  for  want  of  goods  or  chattels 
whereon  to  make  Diftrefs  (befides  tooles  or  implements  neceffary  for  his  trade  or  oc- 
cupation, beafts  of  the  Plough  neceffary  for  the  cultivation  of  his  improved  lands, 
Arms,  utenfils  for  hous-keeping  neceffary  for  upholding  life,  bedding  and  apparel 
neceffary  for  himfelf  and  family)  for  the  fpace  of  twelve  Days,  you  are  to  take  the 
body  of  fuch  parfon  fo  refufing  or  neglecting  and  him  Commit  unto  the  Common 
Goal  of  the  County,  there  to  remain  until  he  or  fhe  pay  the  fame  or  fuch  part  there 
of  as  fhall  not  be  abated  by  the  Commiffioners  for  the  time  being,  or  the  Governor 
and  Councel  of  this  Commonwealth. 

Given  under  our  hands  and  Scale  by  Virtue  of  a  Commiffion  from  the  Governor 
and  Councel  aforefd,  this  firft  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thoufand, 
feven  Hundred  and  eaghty  fix,  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States.  (Signed)  GIDEON  BURT  ) 

SAM'  KEEP  >  Commiffioners. 

Longmeadow  March  iotb  1788.  JOSIAH    COOLEY  ) 


197 

TITHING  MAN'S  COMPLAINT  AND  WARRANT. 

To  Ethan  Ely,  Efquire  one  of  the  Juftices  of  the  Peace  within  and  for  the  County 
of  Hampden,  complains  upon  oath  William  Burt,  Tithing  man  within  the  Town  of 

Longmeadow  in  ld  County.     That  L N of  Longmeadow,  labourer  refi- 

dent  in  the  family  of  Amos  Parker,  on  the  twenty  fecond  day  of  March  inflant,  being 
the  Lord's  Day,  at  fd  Longmeadow,  Did  within  the  walls  of  the  Revd  Baxter  Dick- 
infon's  meeting  houfe  being  a  houfe  of  public  worfhip  in  fd  Longmeadow  behave 
rudely  and  indecently  againft  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  Commonwealth  and  con- 
trary to  a  law  of  the  fame,  and  entitled,  An  Act  providing  for  the  due  obfervation  of 
the  Lord's  Day  and  repealing  the  feveral  laws  heretofore  made  for  that  purpofe. 

WM.  BURT. 
Dated  at  Longmeadow  March  27th  1829. 

Hampden  SS.  The  above  named  Wm  Burt  made  oath  to  the  truth  of  the  forego- 
ing complaint,  March  27*  1827.  before  me  ETHAN  ELY,  Juftice  of  the  Peace. 

Hampden  SS.  To  the  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Hampden  or  either  of  his  Dep- 
uties or  either  of  the  Conftables  of  the  town  of  Longmeadow  in  fd  County  Greeting. 

Forafmuch  as  the  foregoing  complaint  hath  this  day  been  made  upon  oath  to  me 
the  Subfcriber,  one  of  the  Juftices  of  the  Peace  for  the  County  of  Hampden,  Thefe 
are  therefore  in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Maffachufetts  to  require  and 
command  you  forthwith  to  apprehend  the  body  of  L N therein  men- 
tioned and  bring  him  before  me  or  fome  other  of  the  Juftices  of  the  Peace  for  the 
fd  County  of  Hampden  that  he  may  be  examined  touching  the  premifes  and  delt 
with  as  to  law  and  juftice  (hall  appertain,  and  you  are  alike  required  to  fummon  the 
Complainant  to  appear  and  give  evidence  relative  to  the  fubjecl  matter  of  fd  Com- 
plaint when  and  where  you  fhall  have  the  fd  L N . 

Given  under  my  hand  and  feal  this  27""  day  of  March  AD.  1829.     ETHAN  ELY. 

Hampden  SS.  28th  March  1829.  By  virtue  of  this  warrant  I  have  arrefted  the 

body  of  the  within  L B.  N and  have  him  before  Ethan  Ely  one  of  the 

Juftices  of  the  Peace  for  the  fd  County,  and  alfo  have  fummoned  the  within  Com- 
plainant to  appear  at  the  time  and  place  mentioned.  JOSEPH  PARKER  Conftable. 

Fees.  Service  5oc.  Travel  8c.  Summoning  witnefies  roc.  Travel  8c.  Keeping prifoner 
&  attendance  i.oo — 1.76. 

March  28.  1829  There  came  before  me  L N and  anfwered  not  guilty 

to  the  within  complaint  and  put  himfelf  on  trial  before  me  ETHAN  ELY,  Juftice  of 
the  Peace,  upon  full  hearing  of  witneffes  it  appears  that  the  defendant  is  guilty 
and  is  fined  $i.ooand  coft  of  profecution  comp1  &  warrant  5oc.  entering  examination 
&c  7 50.  witnefs  Wm  Burt  attend  34C.  travel  8c.  office  fees  1.76.  Total  $8.43. 

DEED  OF  MINISTRY  LAND. 

The  following  deed  of  the  north  half  of  the  "  Ministry  "  five-acre 
lot  originally  given  to  the  Precinct  by  Nathaniel  Burt — it  being  a  por- 
tion of  his  grant  No.  15,  (see  page  181) — and  subsequently  sold  by  the 
Precinct  to  Pastor  Storrs,  is  of  interest  both  as  incidentally  showing 
the  terms  under  which  the  Precinct  originally  received  the  whole  prop- 
erty from  Mr.  Burt,  and  also  the  somewhat  complicated  legal  steps 
necessary  for  its  subsequent  transfer  to  Pastor  Storrs  in  fee  simple. 
It  seems  to  have  been  thought  necessary  for  the  pastor  himself  to  join 


198 

with  the  Precinct  Committee  in  relinquishing  his  right  in  the  land  as 
"  Orthodox  Nonconformist  Incumbent "  for  life  and  the  Precinct's 
rights  in  fee,  respectively,  to  an .  indifferent  third  party,  Wm.  Ely  of 
Springfield  ;  by  whom  upon  the  same  day,  and  for  the  same  sum,  the 
same  property  was  then  re-transferred  to  Pastor  Storrs  personally. 

The  former  only  of  these  deeds  is  here  given,  the  latter  being 
nearly  its  duplicate  in  substance  : 
To  all  People  to  whom  thefe  prefents  (hall  come  Greeting 

Whereas  Mr  Nath1  Burt  of  Springfield  in  the  County  of  Hampfhire  by  his  certain 
Deed  dated  the  firft  Day  of  May  Anno  Domini  1716  did  convey  and  make  over  to 
the  then  Parifh  of  Longmeadow  in  Springfield  being  the  Prefent  town  of  Long- 
meadow  among  other  Lands  therein  defcribed — one  certain  Part  or  Parcel  of  Land 
lying  a  little  north  of  the  meeting  houfe  in  fd  Longmeadow  and  butting  Wefterly  on 
the  Street  or  highway — containing  five  Acres  more  particularly  described  in  fd  Deed 
to  have  and  to  hold  the  fame  and  the  fame  to  be  and  remain  to  the  ufe  and  improve- 
ment of  the  Orthodox  Nonconformift  minifters  of  fd  Parifh  Succeffively  forever  And 
whereas  at  a  nieeting  of  the  Inhabitants  of  fd  Town  of  Longmeadow  on  the  Twenti- 
eth Day  of  February  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  thoufand  feven  hundred  and 
eighty  fix  legally  convened  for  that  purpofe  it  was  Judged  expedient  and  for  the  fur- 
therance of  the  Intentions  of  the  original  Grantor  to  Sell  and  difpofe  of  the  Same 
Land  and  it  was  then  and  there  voted  by  the  fd  Inhabitants  that  Nath1  Ely  Gentle- 
man Mofes  Field  Gentleman  and  Jon"  Hale  Junr  Efqr  all  of  fd  Longmeadow  be  a 
comtee  veiled  with  full  power  and  authority  in  behalf  of  fd  Town  to  bargain  and  fell 
the  fame  Land  and  in  behalf  of  fd  Town  to  make  and  execute  good  and  fufficient 
Deed  or  Deeds  of  the  fame  according  to  Law. 

Therefore  know  ye  that  We  Richard  Salter  Storrs  of  fd  Longmeadow  Clerk  and 
incumbent  minifter  of  fd  Town  of  Longmeadow  formerly  Parifh  of  Longmeadow 
aforef"  and  the  f*  Nath1  Ely  Mofes  Field  and  Jona  Hale  Junr  in  f  Capacity  for  and 
in  confideration  of  the  Sum  of  forty  Pounds  lawful  Money  to  us  in  Hand  paid  be- 
fore the  enfealing  hereof  by  Wm  Ely  of  Springfield  in  fd  County  of  Hampfhire  Gen- 
tleman the  Receipt  whereof  we  do  hereby  acknowledge  have  bargained  Sold  and 
conveyed  and  do  by  thefe  prefents  bargain  Sell  and  convey  and  confirm  to  him  the 
f,i  \ym  Ely  his  Heirs  and  Affigns  the  Northerly  half  of  the  aforefd  Tract  of  Land 
bounded  weft  on  the  Highway  aforef  North  on  Land  of  Azariah  Woolworth  eaft 
on  land  of  Sam1  Williams  fouth  on  the  remaining  part  of  faid  Lot  extending  ten  rods 
north  and  fouth  and  forty  rods  eaft  and  weft,  containing  two  acres  and  an  half 
To  have  and  to  hold  the  aforefd  Premifes  with  the  Appurtenances  to  him  the  fd  Wm 
Ely  his  Heirs  and  Affigns  as  a  good  and  indefeafible  Eftate  in  fee  fimple  forever.  In 
Witneis  whereof  We  the  fd  Richd  Nath1  Mofes  and  Jon*  have  hereunto  fet  our 
Hands  and  Seals  this  Twelfth  Day  of  September  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
fand feven  hundred  and  Ninety  one. 

Signed  Sealed  and  delivered  in  prefence  of  RICHd  S.  STORRS 

NATH1  ELY 

JOHN  Buss  MOSES  FIELD 

DAVID  BURT.  JONa  HALE  JuNr 


199 

G.— BURYING  GROUNDS. 

The  old  burying  ground  of  the  Town  of  Longmeadow  consisted 
originally  of  just  one  acre  of  land  "granted  "  out  of  the  town  highway 
leading  eastward  from  the  main  street  into  the  commons — literally  a 
"  God's  acre,"  in  area  as  well  as  in  assignment  of  sacred  use.  By 
the  records  of  the  Committee  charged  with  the  duty  of  modeling  and 
laying  out  the  Longmeadow  settlement  upon  the  hill  170!,  it  appears 
that  this  highway  was  first  laid  out  ten  rods  wide,  and  that  then  a  strip 
four  rods  wide  upon  the  south  side  of  the  highway,  commencing  at  the 
Main  street  and  extending  thence  eastward  forty  rods,  was  granted 
out  of  this  "  for  a  burying  ground." 

The  earliest  interments  appear  to  have  been  made  at  the  eastern 
end  of  this  grant,  remotest  from  the  Main  street,  and  thence  in  suc- 
cessive years  for  more  than  a  century  westward,  until  the  interments 
had  approached  within  two  hundred  feet  of  the  Main  street.  Further 
interments  in  this  direction  were  then  prohibited,  and  an  additional  strip 
of  land  eastward  of  the  original  grant,  and  of  the  same  width,  and  extend- 
ing so  far  east  "  as  to  come  within  five  rods  of  the  east  end  of  the  home 
lot  of  Major  Luther  Colton  deceased,"  was  by  formal  vote  of  the 
Town  assigned  for  the  same  purpose.  Four  years  later  twenty  rods 
of  this  extension  was  enclosed  with  the  occupied  portion  of  the  origi- 
nal grant,  leaving  about  two  hundred  feet  of  the  front  portion  of  the 
old  burying  ground  grant  upon  the  corner  of  Meeting  House  Lane  and 
the  Main  street  unenclosed.  The  expediency  of  selling  or  leasing 
this  corner  was  more  than  once  considered  in  town  meetings,  as  ap- 
pears from  such  votes  as  the  following  : 

"April  7,  1788.  Voted  to  raife  a  Committee  of  Five  to  look  into  and  confider 
the  propriety  of  leafing  fome  part  of  the  burying  ground  on  any  confideration  and 
to  make  report  to  fome  future  meeting.  Capt.  David  Burt,  Deacon  Nathaniel  Ely, 
Jofiah  Cooley,  Ebenezer  Blifs  and  Hezekiah  Hale  were  chofen  faid  Committee." 

A  portion  of  this  corner  was  subsequently  occupied — presumably 
under  a  forty-years  lease,  though  no  record  of  the  fact  appears — by 
a  blacksmith's  and  a  wheelwright's  shops ;  whose  unchallenged 
occupancy  for  a  longer  period  ultimately  gained  for  them  a  right  of 
possession  which  it  cost  the  parish  several  hundred  dollars  finally  to 
extinguish. 

The  remaining  portion  of  this  corner  was  in  1853,  by  formal  vote 
of  the  Town,  granted  to  the  First  parish,  and"  was  then  occupied  by  it, 
first  as  a  location  for  its  new  chapel  building,  and  afterwards^  upon 
the  removal  of  this  to  the  lot  southward  in  1874,  as  the  site  of  the 

removed  and  remodeled  church  edifice.     By  this  apparently  fortuitous 
26 


2OO 

course  of  events  the  old  burying  ground  has  become  at  last  in  truth 
the  church-yard,  and  the  latter  building  has  found,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  a 
final  location  not  less  appropriate  than  its  former  central  position  up- 
on the  village  green. 

By  further  votes  of  the  Town  in  1808,  the  burying  ground  was 
extended  still  further  eastward  "  to  come  within  twenty  feet  of  the 
west  side  of  Widow  Ann  Field's  dwelling  house,"  successive  portions 
of  which  extension  were  by  votes  of  the  Parish,  in  1837  and  1857,  en- 
closed and  laid  out  into  burial  lots  which  were  gratuitously  assigned 
to  such  heads  of  families  as  applied  for  them.  By  vote  of  the  Town 
also,  in  1846,  permission  was  given  to  the  Parish  "  to  remove  the  fence 
on  the  north  side  of  their  burying  ground  to  the  north  side  of  the  row 
of  trees  standing  near  the  said  burying  ground,  and  to  improve  said 
land  thus  enclosed  as  they  shall  think  proper ; '"  which  grant  furnished 
about  ten  feet  of  additional  space  for  the  roadway,  which  now  extends 
the  entire  length  of  the  burying  ground  upon  its  northern  side. 

It  was  at  this  critical  point  in  the  history  of  the  old  burying  ground, 
when  nearly  two  acres  in  all  had  been  thus  fully  occupied,  and  the 
limit  of  desirable  extension  eastward  had  been  obviously  nearly  reached, 
and  when  the  unfortunate  experience  of  so  many  other  ancient  bury- 
ing grounds  might  so  easily  have  become  hers,  in  the  diversion  of 
public  interest  and  affection  to  a  new  and  perhaps  remote  modern 
cemetery,  resulting  finally  perhaps  in  the  disuse  and  neglect  of  the  old 
one — it  was  at  this  critical  point  that  the  opportune  purchase  of  an 
equal  area  immediately  adjoining  the  old  burying  ground  upon  the 
south,  by  a  legally  organized  Cemetery  Association  consisting  of 
twenty  prominent  citizens,  all  deeply  interested  also  in  the  old  burying 
ground,  solved  the  problem  of  cemetery  extension  for  at  least  a  cen- 
tury to  come,  and  secured  for  the  sacred  resting-place  of  the  fathers 
and  the  children  a  perpetual  unity  of  enclosure  and  of  interest. 

A  Contract  of  Record  was  at  once  entered  into  between  the  two 
burial  properties,  as  represented  by  the  Parish  Prudential  Committee 
duly  authorized  thereto  and  the  executive  officers  of  the  Cemetery 
Association,  by  which  all  separating  lines  and  fences  were  at  once  and 
forever  abolished,  and  perpetual  rights  of  way  across  each  mutually 
secured ;  so  that  the  eye  of  the  sharpest  observer  now  recognizes  only 
one  burial  enclosure  in  the  whole.  The  Contract  of  Record,  by  which 
this  unity  of  use  and  interest  was  secured,  is  perhaps  of  sufficient  in- 
frequency,  interest,  and  importance,  to  warrant  the  insertion  of  its 
main  text  here  in  full,  as  a  possible  precedent  for  other  places.  It 
reads  as  follows : 


2OI 

"  This  agreement  made  and  executed  this  Thirtieth  day  of  July  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two  by  and  between  the  First  Parish  in  Long- 
meadow  in  the  County  of  Hampden  and  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  and  the 
Longmeadow  Cemetery  Association  in  said  Longmeadow,  witnesseth;  that  whereas 
the  lot  which  the  said  Association  has  appropriated  for  its  cemetery  adjoins  the 
burying  ground  of  said  Parish,  now  for  the  more  convenient  use  of  the  grounds  by 
the  parties  respectively  for  the  purposes  of  burial,  it  is  hereby  agreed  as  follows  : 

I.  All  fences  separating  the  said  cemetery  lot  and  the  said  burying  ground  shall 
be  removed,  and  no  fence  nor*wall  nor  other  partition  shall  ever  be  placed  between 
the  same. 

II.  Each  of  the  said  parties  shall  perpetually  maintain  a  sufficient  and  suitable 
fence  upon  all  other  portions  of  its  own  boundary  except  that  separating  the  two  lots. 

III.  Each  of  the  said  parties  shall  have  all  rights  of  way  across  the  grounds  of 
the  other  necessary  for  convenient  access  to  said  lots  respectively. 

IV.  Said  lots  shall  respectively  be  forever  devoted  to  purposes  of  burial,  and 
neither  party  shall  make  nor  suffer  to  be  made  any  use  thereof  inconsistent  with 
said  purpose." 

With  all  the  usual  legal  formalities  of  execution  and  registry  in  the 
Hampden  Registry  of  Deeds ;  in  which  office  also  was  recorded  a 
plan  of  the  cemetery  lots,  as  the  basis  of  the  Deeds  which  the  Asso- 
ciations gives  to  the  purchaser  of  its  individual  lots  and  records  in  its 
own  Registry  of  Deeds. 

It  is  for  the  loving  care  and  adornment  of  this  entire  burial  property 
as  thus  constituted  that  an  effort  has  been  recently  inaugurated 
toward  securing  a  Perpetual  Cemetery  Fund,  to  be  held  in  trust  by  the 
Cemetery  Association  and  administered  by  it,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Parish  Prudential  Committee,  for  the  impartial  benefit  of  the  whole 
property. 

As  the  first  fruits  of  this  effort,  and  of  the  interest  probably  stimu- 
lated by  the  Centennial  celebration,  nearly  a  thousand  dollars  has  been 
already  pledged  by  friends  from  abroad,  while  an  equal  sum  is  sub- 
stantially assured  from  home  contributors.  The  donors  thus  far  are 
Mr.  Gideon  Cooley  Hixon,  of  Lacrosse,  Wisconsin,  $500.  Rev.  John 
R.  Keep  of  Hartford,  $100.  Mrs.  Susan  H.  Page  of  Boston,  $100. 
Mrs.  Geo.  G.  Crocker  of  Boston,  $100.  Mrs.  S.  D.  Warren  of  Boston, 
$100.  Mrs.  G.  W.  Hammond  of  Boston,  $50. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  success  already  attained,  encouraging  as  it 
certainly  is,  may  prove  but  the  beginning  of  an  universal  interest  alike 
among  residents  and  non-residents,  which  shall  result  in  a  fund,  whose 
annual  income  shall  insure  such  affectionate  care  of  the  entire  grounds 
as  shall  make  the  Longmeadow  burying  ground  a  model  one  among 
New  England  rural  cemeteries.  Subscriptions  to  this  end  may  be 
addressed  to  the  care  of  R.  S.  Storrs,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Longmeadow  Cemetery  Association. 


202 

Similar  subscriptions  and  manifestations  of  interest  on  the  part  of 
non-resident  friends  of  the  East  Longmeadow  burying  grounds  will  be 
also  welcome  there,  though  no  similar  effort  has  been  there  organized. 

In  regard  to  the  several  burying  grounds  in  that  part  of  the  town, 
no  record  appears  until  April  14,  1806,  when  it  was  voted  that  Stephen 
Taylor,  Israel  Spencer,  Thaddeus  Billings  and  Elijah  Burt  be  a  com- 
mittee to  find  a  suitable  place  for  a  burying  yard  in  the  eastern  part 
of  this  town.  No  record  appears  of  the  success  attending  this  search; 
but  April  6,  1818,  a  vote  is  recorded  requesting  the  selectmen  "to 
view  the  several  places  for  burying  grounds  in  the  east  part  of  the 
town,  and  see  to  the  title  of  said  grounds  and  make  report  thereof  to 
the  next  meeting,  so  that  the  town  may  fence  the  same  if  they  see  fit." 
Also,  that  the  selectmen  "  may  order  the  burying  grounds  aforesaid  to 
be  fenced  provided  they  shall  receive  a  satisfactory  title."  And  May 
8,  1818,  it  was  voted  that  the  selectmen  "be  directed  to  order  the  sum 
of  eight  dollars  to  defray  the  expenses  of  fencing  each  of  these  several 
places  of  burying  ground,  respectively  near  Capt.  Luther  Markham's, 
Henry  Fuller's,  and  Thaddeus  Billings,  Jr.'s,  provided  they  shall  ob- 
tain a  satisfactory  title  to  them,"  and  "  Capt.  Luther  Markham,  Aaron 
Crane,  Ensign  Daniel  Porter,  Gideon  Gardener,  Henry  C.  Fuller, 
Abel  Pease,  Theodore  Billings,  Jr.,  Theophilus  Swetland,  Loring 
Lathrop,  and  Lieut.  Thaddeus  Billings  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  superintend  the  fencing  of  the  aforesaid  burying  grounds." 

It  may  be  of  interest  in  this  connection  to  note  a  few  of  the  oldest 
precinct  votes  in  regard  to  the  fencing  and  care  of  the  original  bury- 
ing ground. 

Jan.  23,  1718.  It  was  furder  voated  to  fence  and  clear  for  a  burying  yard,  ten 
rods  in  length  of  thatt  parcel  of  land  granted  by  the  Committee  of  the  Town  for  the 
precinct  and  four  rods  in  breadth  as  they  have  granted  and  the  committee  for  the 
prudential  afairs  of  the  precinct  fhall  pitch  upon  the  plan  moftt  convenient  and  see 
that  the  work  be  accomplifhed  as  aforefaid  on  the  charge  of  the  precinct." 

"  March  18, 1742.  Voated  that  the  committee  provide  a  biere  for  the  ufe  of  the 
precinct  on  the  charge  of  the  precinct,"  and 

Nov.  3,  1742.  As  appears  by  the  Committee  Book  they  "  Granted  to  Nathaniel 
Burt  for  making  a  byer  for  the  ufe  of  the  precinct  ten  (hillings  old  tenor.  Granting 
alfo  at  the  fame  date  twenty  millings  old  tenor  to  be  laid  in  the  Treaiury  out  of 
which  to  prepare  the  burying  yard." 

March  17,  1779.  The  following  votes  are  recorded  in  the  Precinct  Book  showing 
how  near  the  old  burying  ground  came,  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  to  being  en- 
closed with  a  stone  wall  from  the-  East  Part  quarries. 

"  The  meeting  met  at  6  o'clock  according  to  adjournment  and  voted  that  the 
burying  ground  be  fenced  with  a  wall  of  ruf-ftone.  Voted  that  the  Parifh  Commit- 
tee be  directed  to  enclofe  the  burying  ground  with  all  convenient  fpe  ed  and  expedi- 
tion with  ftone  agreeable  to  the  laft  vote  and  to  make  a  juft  apprifement  of  the 
fame."  Which  vote  seems  to  stand  as  yet  both  unreconsidered  and  unaccomplished. 


203 

The  following  are  sundry  votes  of  the  Town  in  regard  to  monu- 
ments : 

March  23,  1784.  Voted  to  raife  a  monument  over  the  grave  of  Rev.  Dr.  Williams 
on  the  Town's  coft,  and  that  the  felectmen  be  defired  to  fee  the  fame  effected. 

Voted  to  grant  the  fum  of  ^3  to  procure  a  decent  pair  of  grave  ftones  for  the 
grave  of  Nathaniel  Burt  who  gave  lands  to  this  town  for  the  ufe  of  the  minifters  and 
for  the  ufe  of  fchools,  and  that  the  felectmen  be  directed  to  procure  faid  ftones 
with  a  proper  infcription  on  the  fame. 

April  4, 1820.  The  Parish  voted  to  grant  the  fum  of  Twenty-five  dollars  to  pro- 
cure a  monument  to  be  placed  at  the  grave  of  the  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs. 

The  total  number,  of  monumental  stones  now  standing  in  the  old 
Longmeadow  burying  grounds  is  914,  viz.:  in  the  oldest  part,  with  the 
head  toward  the  north,  444 ;  in  the  first  extension  eastward,  reaching 
to  and  including  the  Burt  tomb,  333,  with  the  head  toward  the  west ; 
and  in  the  second  extension  eastward  from  the  tomb,  137  ;  with  some 
twenty  later  interments  in  the  new  cemetery  addition  on  the  south. 
Of  these  200  bear  the  family  name  of  Colton,  65  that  of  Burt,  59  each 
of  Bliss  and  Cooley,  37  of  Keep,  34  of  Hale,  29  of  Stebbins,  and  24 
each  of  Ely  and  Field  ;  these  nine  family  names  comprising  consider- 
ably more  than  half  of  the  total.  The  oldest  stone  now  standing  in 
the  yard  is  one  indicating  no  actual  interment,  but  brought  from 
Springfield  by  permission  of  its  authorities,  when  the  old  Springfield 
graveyard  was  ploughed  through  by  the  track  of  the  Southern  Rail- 
road, and  all  its  monumental  stones  removed  to  the  new  cemetery. 
The  following  is  the  partial  inscription  upon  this  fragmentary  stone  : 
MARY  COLTON— ALIAS  MARY  DRAKE— WHO  DIED  OCT. 
10,  1682— MY  DAYS  ARE  FEW— MY  GLASS  IS  RUN— MY  AGE 
32  AND  ONE— YET  AM  ***  The  following  are  a  few  of  other 
inscriptions  copied  verbatim  et  literatim  with  the  termination  of  lines 
typographically  indicated  by  upright  bars  : 

In  Memory  of  |  The  Rev.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS  D.D.  |  who  was  a  prudent  and  La- 
borious Minilter,  |  a  found  and  evangelical  Preacher,  |  a  pious  and  exemplary  Chrif- 
tian,  |  a  fincere  and  faithful  Friend,  |  a  tender  and  affectionate  Father  and  |  Confort, 
a  polite  and  hofpitable  |  Gentleman,  and  a  real  and  difmterefted  |  Lover  of  man- 
kind; departed  this  life  |  with  humble  and  cheerful  hope  of  a  |  better,  June  ioth, 
1782,  in  the  ox)tu  year  |  of  his  age,  and  66th  of  his  miniftry  | 

Softly  his  fainting  head  he  lay  His  Maker  kiffed  his  soul  away, 

Upon  his  Maker's  bread  ;  And  laid  his  flefh  to  reft. 

In  Memory  of  Mrs  ABIGAIL  WILLIAMS,  |  the  Amiable  Confort  of  the  Revd  STE- 
PHEN WILLIAMS.  |  born  July  14,  1696,  |  died  Aug.  26,  1766  |  Genefis  35,  20  |  And 
Jacob  fet  a  Pillar  |  Upon  Her  Grave  | 

In  Memory  of  Mrs  SARAH  WILLIAMS  |  Late  wife  of  Rev"  |  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS 
D  D  |  Who  Died  Nov.  18,  |  1790  |  in  her  85'"  Year.     This  ftone  ftands  but  to  tell  | 
where  her  duft  lies,  not  what  fhe  was  |  when  faints  fliall  rife  that  day  will  mow  |  the 
part  fhe  acted  here  Below.  | 


2O4 

Sacred  |  to  the  memory  of  |  the  Rev.  RICHARD  |  SALTER  STORRS  |  Paftor  of  the 
Church  |  in   Longmeadow.  |  He  was   born  |  at   Manffield  Conn  |  Aug.  3oth  1763.  | 
Graduated  at  Yale  |  College  in  1783.  |  Ordained  Dec  7,  1785.  |  died  Oct  3, 1819. 

In  the  private  rela  |  tions  of  life   He  emi  |  nently  illuftrated  |  the  graces  of  the  | 
Chriftian  character.  |  As  a  Minifter   of  Chrift  |  He  was  distinguifh  |  ed  for  his  ap- 
propri  |  ate  perfpicuous    and  af  |  feclionate    Exhibition  |  of   Evangelical  Truth,  | 
for  propriety  rich  |  nefs  and  fervor  in  focial  |  prayer,  and  for  his  in  |  struclive  con- 
verfation  |  and  Chriftian  fympathy  j  in  paftoral  duties. 

In  testimony  of  j  their  affectionate  |  remembrance  of  |  his  perfonal  worth  |  & 
high  regard  for  |  his  Ability,  Zeal,  and  |  Ufefulnefs  as  their  |  Chriftian  Paftor,  |  his 
mourning  |  Congregation  |  erect  this  |  Monument. 

"RELIGION.  |  Her  Almighty  breath  Amidft  that  calm  |  of  fweet  repofe 

Rebuked  the  winds  |  and  waves  of  death  ;  To  Heaven  his  |  gentle  fpirit  role." 

"  Bleffed  are  the  |  dead  who  die  in  the  |  Lord,  for  they  reft  |  from  their  labour  |  & 
their  works  do  |  follow  them."  | 

Sacred  to  the  Memory  |  of  SARAH  Confort  of  the  |  Revd  Richard  S.  Storrs  and 
|  of  their  infant  E.  WILLIAMS.  |  MTS  Storrs  at  an  early  |  period  of  her  life  gave  | 
reafon  to  hope  that  fhe  |  was  a  veffel  of   mercy  |  preparing  for  Glory.  |  Poffeffed  of 
fuperior  |  natural   and  acquired  |  accomplifhments  fhe  filled  her  ftation  with  |  dig- 
nity and  ufefulnefs ;  |  exhibiting  an  eminent  |  example  of  the  conjugal  |  and  parental 
virtues  and  |  of  all  focial  and  Chriftian  |  affections  |  In  the  full  affurance  of  hope  | 
and  in  the  triumph  of  faith  |  fhe  died  Jan  29th  1798  aged  33  | 

In  Memory  of  SARAH  W.  relict  of  |  Rev.  |  RICHARD  S.  STORRS  |  &  Grand- 
daughter of  |  Rev.  |  Stephen  Williams  |  D.D.  |  She  died  Feb.  7,  1846  |  Aged  Si  | 

In  Memory  of  |  Mr  |  THOMAS  BLISS  |  who  died  |  Augst  12.  1758  |  In  His  85"'  | 
year  |  —  |  Our  Life  is  Ever  |  on  the  Wing  |  And  Death  is  Ever  Nigh  |  The  Mo- 
ment When  Our  Lives  Begin  |  We  all  Begin  to  Die. 

In   Memory   of  |  Mr.   EBENEZER   BLISS  |  who  died  |  March  2nd    1808  |  aged  82. 

Bleffed  are  the  dead  which  |  die  in  the  Lord,  that  they  |  may  reft  from  their  la- 
bours |  and  their  works  do  follow  them.  | 

MR.  NATHANIEL  BURT.  |  a  refpeclable  and  worthy  |  Father  of  the  |  Town  of 
Longmeadow  J  was  born  A.D.  1636  |  and  died  Sept  29"'  1720.  |  This  Monument  is 
erected  to  |  his  memory  |  by  the  inhabitants  of  faid  Town  |  as  a  token  of  gratitude 
for  |  donations  in  lands  made  by  him  |  to  them,  for  the  fupport  of  the  |  Gofpel  and 
public  Schools  |  — Ifaiah  32.  8.  The  liberal  devifeth  |  liberal  things,  and  by  liberal 
things  |  fhall  he  ftand. 

How  art  thou  fallen  in  the  |  Midft  of  the  Battle  |  O  very  pleafant  haft  |  thou 
been.  |  In  Memory  of  |  LIEUTENANT  NATHANIEL  BURT  |  Who  was  flain  in  the 
memorable  I  Battle  near  LAKE  GEORGE  |  September  8th  1755  |  Wrhen  his  COLONEL 
and  other  |  BRAVE  OFFICERS  fell  |  Yet  a  fignal  Victory  was  obtained  |  Over  the 
ENEMY.  |  Mr  Nathaniel  Burt  |  Was  A  Deacon  of  this  Church  |  An  Exemplary 
Chriftian  |  A  Man  of  PUBLICK  Spirit  |  &  A  good  SOLDIER,  Well  beloved  at  home 
and  in  ye  Army  A  concern  for  pure  RELIGION  |  caufed  his  going  into  y"  military 
|  Service.  He  died  in  his  45th  year.  |  2  CHRON.  35th  and  25""  |  &  JEREMIAH  | 
lamented  over  |  JOSIAH.  | 


205 

In  Memory  of  |  Adf  JONATHAN  BURT  |  who  departed  |  this  life  in  a  fudden  |  and 
Surprifing  manner  |  April  i8th  1794:  |  in  his  56th  year.  | 

How  ihort  how  precarious  how  |  uncertain  is  life,  how  quick  the  |  Tranfition 
from  time  to  Eternity  ?  |  How  foon  the  thread  of  life  is  fpun  |  —A  breath  a  gafp  a 
grone  or  two  |  and  we  are  feen  no  more.  |  Yet  on  this  britle  thread  of  life  |  hangs 
a  vaft  Eternity.  | 

In  Memory  of  |  CAPT  ISAAC  COLTON  |  who  died  |  Jan^  23rd  1757  |  In  his  57th 
year.  Capt.  I.  Colton  had  a  military  Genius,  commanded  a  Company  |  at  Louif- 
bourg  in  1745.  |  Was  refpecled  and  ufeful  at  Home.  |  Was  a  man  of  Prayer.  |  Ifa 
31:  3.  For  Behold  the  Lord  |  Doth  take  away  the  Captain. 

HERE  LIES  INTERR'D  THE  BODY  |  OF  CAPT  THOMAS  COLTON  WHO  |  DEPARTED 
THIS  LIFE  SEPTEMBER  |  THE  30th  1728  AGED  77  YEARS.  |  PRO.  x,  7.  THE  MEMORY 

OF  |  THE  JUST  IS  BLESSED.   I 


In  Memory  of  |  Mrs  HANNAH 
h,    1737  |  In    Her  73"!  |  Year. 


Wife  of  |  Cap  Thomas  |  Colton  |  who  died  |  Novr 
Pro.   ii.   1 6  |  A  virtuous  Woman  |  Retaineth 


Honour.  | 

Here  lies  interr'd  ye  |  Body  of  MR  SAMUEL  |  COLTON  who  was  born  |  Janrv  17, 
1679  and  d}*ed  |  March  13  1748  Our  |  Life  is  a  paffage  to  |  Eternity  and  ought  to 
be  a  |  preparation  for  Eternity.  | 

Here  lies  Buri'd  the  Body  |  of  MRS.  MARGARET  COLTON  |  Wife  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Colton  |  Who  was  born  Sept  nth  |  1684  and  dyed  Janr^  |  ye  19'"  1738.  |  A  true 
Chriftian  has  |  Nothing  to  fear  beyond  |  the  Grave.  | 

Sacred  to  the  Memory  of  |  Mr  SAMUEL  COLTON  \  Merchant  |  who  departed  this 
life  |  Nov.  5,  1784  in  the  57'"  year  |  of  his  age.  | 

The  Sun's  too  quick  revolving  beams     Then  happieft  he  whofe  lengthened  fight 
Apace  diffolves  the  humane  dreams        Purfues  by  virtue's  conftant  light 

And  brings  the  appointed  hour.  A  hope  beyond  the  fkies 

Too  late  we  catch  his  parting  ray  Where  frowning  Winter  ne'er  (hall  come 

And  mourn  the  idly  wafted  day  But  rofy  Spring  forever  bloom 

No  longer  in  our  power.  And  Suns  eternal  rife. 

In  Memory  of  |  Mrs  FLAVIA  Wife  of  |  Mr  SAMUEL  COLTON  |  Who  died  April 
19.  1763  |  In  her  22  Year  |  My  fellow  youth  ftop  here  awhile  |  &  View  my  Monu- 
mental pile  |  Once  I  like  you  alive  But  ah  !  |  am  nothing  now  but  Native  clay. 

Sacred  to  the  Memory  of  |  M1S  LUCY  COLTON  |  Relict  of  Mr  Samuel  Colton,  Mer- 
chant |  She  died  Dec  7  A.D.  1799.  fiLt  57.  |  She  poffeffed  a  mind  much  above  |  the 
common  ftandard  and  |  practiced  the  focial  virtues  |  in  an  eminent  degree.     She 
was  an  |  affectionate  and  faithful  Partner  |  Parent  and  Friend.     Being  |  liberally  en- 
dowed, (he  judicioufly  |  and  liberally  contributed  to  public  |  purpofes   and  caufed 
the  heart    of  the  |  Widow  and  the  Fatherlefs  to  rejoice  |  Thus  (he  honored  the 
Lord  with  her  |  Subftance  and  her  Memory  is  bleffed.  |  She  was  an  underftanding 
Believer  |  in  the    doctrines    of    Chriftianity   |    Serious    attendant   on    Divine  |  In- 
ftruclion,  &  died  in  the  hope  of  an  |  immortal  and  glorious  life. 
Death  !  Great  proprietor  of  all  !  'tis  thine 
To  tread  out  Empires  and  to  quench  the  ftars. 
The  Sun  himfelf  by  thy  permiffion  mines 
And,  one  day,  thou  (halt  pluck  him  from  his  fphere. 


2O6 

In  Memory  of  |  Mrs.  LUCRETIA  wife  of  |  Rev.  SIMEON  COLTON  and  |  daughter  of 
Capt  Gideon  |  Colton.  She  died  at  Pal  |  .mer  July  14.  1821  aged  33;  |  her  hufband 
being  at  that  |  time  Paftor  of  the  Church  in  |  that  place.  With  her  are  de  |  pofited 
two  ftill  born  children  |  Affectionate  in  her  difpofition,  |  fervent  in  her  piety,  (he  was 
|  eminently  ufeful  in  her  ftation,  |  and  in  death  was  much  |  lamented.  Enjoying 
the  confo  j  lations  of  religion  in  her  laft  |  moments,  (he  with  calm  refig  |  nation 
committed  her  foul  to  |  her  Savour,  and  died  in  the  full  |  hope  of  a  glorious 
refurrection.  |  "  Bleffed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord." 

To  the  |  Memory  of  |  ELIZA  W.  CONDIT  |  confort  of  |  Rev.  Jon  B.  Condit  |  who 
died  Jan.  7.  1835.  |  El  24.  |  Selah  S.  Woodhull  |  their  Son,  |  died  March  15. 1835 
|  El  3  Months  &  4  days.  |  — How  flender  all  the  proudeft  ties  |  That  bind  us  to  a 
world  like  this.  | 

In  Memory  |  of  |  Enfign  |  Samuel  |  Keep  |  Who  died  Aug9t  |  23rd  1758 — aged  85. 

In  Memory  of  |  DEA.  WALTER  WHITE:  |  who  died  July  14.  1819  :  |  Aged  54.  |  In 
a  long  &  diftreffmg  |  ficknefs  he  proved  himfelf  |  to  be  the  man  of  God  |  &  exhibited 
the  excellenc'y  &  |  fure  fupports  of  the  |  Chriftian  Religion.  |  In  the  duties  of  his 
office  |  he  was  fignally  faithful,  |  in  the  home  of  the  mourning  |  a  comforter,  in  the 
|  conference  room  a  Guide.  |  Help  Lord  for  the  godly  man  ceafeth. 

A  notice  of  Longmeadow  burying  grounds  would  not  be  complete 
without  mention  of  an  aboriginal  one  which  antedates  all  the  others. 
Many  years  ago,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  long  meadow,  the  encroaching 
freshets  in  their  annual  assaults  upon  the  river  bank  laid  bare  pro- 
jecting human  bones  which  examination  showed  to  be  regularly  interred 
Indian  skeletons.  These  were  usually  found,  when  the  floods  had  not 
already  disturbed  them,  with  the  lower  limbs  somewhat  drawn  up,  but 
without  other  observable  peculiarity  of  interment.  The  number  of 
skeletons  found  and  other  indications  do  not  warrant  the  belief  that 
this  was  a  principal  Indian  burying  ground,  which  probably  would  be 
found  in  some  more  secluded  and  sheltered  portion  of  the  adjacent 
Pecowsic  Valley ;  but  it  was  probably  the  adjunct  of  the  summer  camp- 
ing ground  of  the  tribe  when  the  meadow  cultivation  invited  their 
more  exposed  sojourn  near  the  main  river  bank.  Not  very  far  from 
this  place  abundant  traces  have  been  found  of  what  must  have  been 
a  sort  of  manufactory  of  stone  arrow-heads,  hatchets,  hoes,  etc.;  the 
ground  being  literally  full  of  the  chippings  incident  to  such  manufac- 
ture, with  occasional  specimens  of  the  rudely  finished  articles  them- 
selves as  well  as  of  Indian  pottery ;  of  which  the  present  owner  of  the 
spot,  Mr.  David  Booth  2d  has  collected  quite  a  respectable  little  museum 
— the  sole  present  relics  of  the  former  lords  of  the  meadow  manor. 

"  And  as  sunbeams  leave  a  blessing, 
Fading  slowly  in  the  West, 

Grudge  we  not  our  benediction 
To  the  red  man's  place  of  rest." 


207 


H.— THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD. 

The  Longmeadow  history  abundantly  illustrates  the  patriotic  senti- 
ment as  well  as  the  daily  anxieties,  and  what  pastor  Williams  calls 
"tumults  and  uneasiness"  of  a  highly  sensitive  and  more  or  less 
divided  community.  A  few  selections  from  his  diary  will  suffice  to 
put  us  into  the  very  midst  of  those  perilous  days. 

April  15,  1775. — By  the  accounts  brought  by  the  post,  things  appear  more 
threatening.  The  court  at  home  seem  determined  to  treat  us  as  a  people  in 
rebellion.  Great  uneasiness  in  the  nation. — 17.  'Tis  reported  this  day  by 
the  way  of  New  York,  from  home,  that  the  court  have  purposed  to  put  off 
their  violent  measures  for  the  present  to  see  what  we  will  do  in  this  land. 

20 — This  morning  as  soon  as  it  was  light,  the  drum  beat  and  three  guns 
were  fired  as  an  alarm.  The  story  is  that  some  of  the  troops  had  marched 
from  Boston  to  seize  some  military  stores  at  Lexington,  or  Concord,  and 
that  some  men  had  been  killed,  but  the  accounts  are  vague — we  must  wait. 
The  Lord  mercifully  prepare  us  for  the  tidings  we  may  have.  The  minute 
men  are  gone  to  town  and  men  are  collecting  from  various  parts,  and  we 
have  reason  to  fear  that  much  mischief  is  done. 

21 — This  morning  at  4  o'clock  another  message  is  come  advising  that 
there  has  been  a  smart  engagement  at  Concord  between  the  regulars  and 
our  people,  and  many  killed,  but  we  have  but  an  uncertain  account.  'Tis 
said  houses  are  burnt,  and  women  and  children  killed — sad  work,  indeed — 
more  men  are  collected  and  going  forth.  I  prayed  with  a  company.  The 
Lord  be  pleased  to  go  with  them  and  prosper  them;  keep  them  in  thy  fear. 
This  day  we  met  together  for  prayer  in  the  meeting  house  and  I  offered 
some  remarks  from  the  3d  chapter  of  Jonah. 

[The  muster-roll  of  the  Longmeadow  minute  men  who  marched  at  the 
Lexington  alarm,  on  April  2ist,  1775,  is  as  follows  : 

First  Lieutenant  and  Acting  Captain,  David  Burt. 

Second  Lieutenant,    -  Jonathan  Hale. 

f  Ebenezer  Colton, 

SerSeantS'  1  Samuel  Keep. 

<  Nathaniel  Ely, 

CorP°rals'     -  IjosiahCooley. 

Privates — Abner  Colton,     -  -     Oliver  King, 

John  Colton,        -  -     Nehemiah  Rumrill, 

Ebenezer  Bliss,  2d,          -     Thomas  Stebbins, 
Aaron  Bliss,        -  -     Sam1  Morgan, 

Sam1  Smith,         -  -     James  Parker, 

David  White,      -  -     Gad  Lamb, 

John  Ackley,       -  -     Ebenezer  Stebbins, 

Elijah  Burt,  -     Sam1  Burt.] 

Richard  Woolworth. 
27 


208 

22 — This  morning  the  post,  Mr.  Adams,  came  along,  and  we  got  his 
account  of  matters  ;  they  are  very  indistinct,  but  we  learn  that  there  has 
been  a  battle  between  the  king's  troops  and  our  people,  and  that  on  both 
sides  it  was  supported  with  great  spirit ;  thus  a  war  is  begun.  In  the  even- 
ing our  people,  excepting  the  minute  men,  came  home  and  bring  an  account 
that  the  king's  troops  are  gone  back  to  Boston  ;  the  account  of  the  battle  is 
yet  very  uncertain.  It  is  said  that  Gen'l  Haldiman  is  killed. 

23 — By  the  post  from  Hartford,  'tis  said  that  a  number  of  men  at  H.  went 
to  the  P.  O.  and  took  away  a  packet  of  letters  to  Gov'r  Gage.  This  is  a 
very  unadvised,  imprudent  measure,  in  my  opinion,  and  doubtless  we  shall 
be  looked  upon  as  in  a  state  of  daring  rebellion. 

24 — Various  reports ;  accounts  of  men's  gathering  together  from  all  parts 
of  the  country,  and  'tis  said  that  a  number  of  men  from  R.  I.  went  to 
Marshfield  and  killed  and  took  a  considerable  number  of  the  king's  troops, 
and  laid  many  houses  in  ashes  of  such  people  as  took  part  with  the  king's 
forces. 

25 — Reports  still  various  ;  some  things  reported  yesterday,  contradicted 
this  day.  In  the  P.  M.  we  met  for  prayer.  Jonathan  Stebbins  and  Dea. 
Colton  prayed.  I  read  a  sermon  of  Dr.  Doddridge's  from  Deut.  23  :  9,  and 
we  concluded  with  singing. 

26 — The  story  of  Marshfield  being  laid  in  ashes  is  contradicted,  and 
whether  any  persons  have  been  killed  there  is  yet  uncertain  ;  the  most 
probable  account  is  that  they  are  contriving  to  collect  an  army  to  be  raised 
by  the  N.  E.  provinces  and  colonies.  Messengers  are  sent  to  Hartford, 
where  the  Conn.  Assembly  is  now  sitting.  The  Lord  give  wisdom,  prudence, 
discretion,  and  moderation.  I  learn  the  people  are  very  ready  to  misrepre- 
sent my  words,  even  in  prayer.  The  Lord  be  pleased  to  direct  and  assist 
me  and  keep  me  from  doing  anything  displeasing  to  His  Majesty. 

27— I  perceive  the  people  are  out  of  humor  with  me  for  things  that  I  have 
said  and  done.  My  own  conscience  don't  upbraid  me  for  what  they  pretend 
to  be  uneasy  at.  I  desire  to  refer  myself  to  the  Lord  and  cast  my  care  upon 
Him,  praying  that  I  may  be  kept  from  sinning  against  God  and  that  my  use- 
fulness may  not  be  obstructed. 

April  28 — George  Cooley,  who  went  with  a  wagon  and  provisions,  is 
returned.  He  says  trnt  our  men,  who  went  from  home,  are  stopped  at 
Waltham  at  present.  I  wish  that  they  may  behave  as  becoming  their 
Christian  profession  ;  reports  are  so  various  that  we  know  not  what  is  to  be 
depended  upon. 

May  5 — Various  reports  indicating  the  disquietness  of  the  times. — 6— Our 
country  is  in  tumult  by  reason  of  the  late  measures  taken  by  the  king's 
troops  ;  blood  is  shed  and  people  are  in  a  great  uproar  and  distress, 
especially  in  Boston,  where  the  inhabitants  are  shut  up,  as  prisoners  and 
people  are  got  to  be  jealous  of  one  another,  because  they  have  different 
opinions  as  to  the  times  and  measures  taken.  The  accounts  from  home  are 
very  different  ;  some  are  for  violent  measures  with  the  colonies  and  prov- 
inces, some  for  lenient  and  moderate  measures.  The  Lord  be  pleased  to 
help,  pity,  and  reform. 


20Q 

ii — A  public  fast.  Mr.  Trotter  of  Stafford  came  hither  to  preach  for  me  ; 
his  forenoon  text,  from  Job  36:  18  ;  P.  M.,  from  Luke  18 :  1-8.  He 
appears  a  bold  and  daring  man,  was  very  popular,  and  doubtless  greatly 
pleased  our  warm  people.  Some  of  his  notions  I  could  not  join  in  with  ; 
but  1  hope  his  calls  to  repent,  reform,  and  engage  God's  presence  may  be 
well  attended  to.  I  myself  shamefully  fell  on  sleep  in  the  time  of  the  fore- 
noon sermon.  The  Lord  be  pleased  to  humble  me. 

1 6 — Report  as  if  Ticonderoga  had  been  taken  possession  of  by  some  of 
the  king's  troops  from  Montreal,  but  that  a  party  from  N.  England  had  dis- 
possessed them,  and  without  shedding  blood.  Thus  we  are  evidently  in  a 
state  of  war,  and  I  fear  we  shall  feel  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war.  But  our 
God  is  infinitely  wise,  powerful,  and  merciful.  He  reigns,  he  governs  the 
world ;  to  Him  I  desire  to  look,  and  upon  Him  alone  have  my  dependence. 

23 — I  perceive  a  coldness  among  my  own  people  towards  me  because  they 
apprehend  I  don't  think  with  them  as  to  the  present  times  and  measures. 
I  heartily  desire  their  welfare  and  happiness.  My  conscience  is  void  of 
offense.  As  to  people's  jealousies,  reproaches,  hard  speeches,  they  are  but 
trifles  in  comparison  with  what  many  others,  very  excellent  men,  have  met 
with.  Oh,  my  heavenly  Father,  forgive  nnd  bless  those  that  ha' e  in  any 
measure  and  manner  been  unkind  to  me. 

June  16 — 'Tis  said  that  there  are  considerable  numbers  of  troops  arrived 
at  Boston. — 17 — The  post  confirms  the  account  of  more  troops,  but  makes 
light  of  it  as  to  their  numbers.  Gen.  Gage  has  published  a  proclamation 
inviting  people  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  promising  favor  to  those  who  do  so ; 
but  in  his  proclamation  Mr.  Hancock  and  Mr.  Samuel  Adams  are  excepted. 

20 — This  day  we  have  a  sorrowful  account  from  our  troops — that  there 
had  been  an  engagement  between  them  and  the  regulars  at  Bunkers  Hill,  in 
Charlestown,  and  considerable  numbers  slain  on  both  sides.  Our  people 
were  driven  out  of  their  entrenchment  and  the  town  of  Charlestown  was  burnt 
down  by  the  king's  troops.  I  hear  of  no  particular  persons  being  killed  but 
Dr.  Warren,  who  was  president  of  the  Provincial  Congress.  The  slaughter 
was  probably  great,  but  we  at  present  have  only  flying  reports.  My  wife's 
son  Nathaniel  (Lieutenant  of  the  Longmeadow  company)  is  returned  home, 
for  which  God  be  praised.  He  was  not  far  from  Bunkers  Hill  where  the 
fight  was,  and  saw  the  fire  at  Charlestown,  and  heard  the  hurras  and  shout- 
ings among  the  troops. 

23 — We  hear  that  all  was  still  at  Boston  on  Wednesday  noon.  26 — We  are 
looking,  hoping,  waiting,  fearing.  Still  various  reports.  A  quantity  of 
powder  carried  to-day  through  the  town  for  the  army.  A  general  action 
expected  by  some.  29 — This  day  Mr.  John  Hale  came  home  from  the  Con- 
gress. Things  look  exceeding  dark  to  me. 

july  i — The  sword  of  civil  war  is  drawn  in  this  land  ;  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  languish  ;  the  earth  is  parched  ;  the  drought  is  distressing.— 3— 'From 
the  accounts  brought  this  day,  the  clouds  thicken.  'Tis  said  the  Canowaga 
Indians  have  taken  up  the  hatchet  against  the  English  ;  skirmishing  on  the 
sea-coasts ;  vessels  taken  and  retaken  ;  substances  wasted  and  destroyed. 


2IO 

i8 — This  day  I  saw  in  the  Hartford  paper  a  declaration  of  the  General 
Congress  at  Philadelphia  which  will  doubtless  be  called  a  declaration  of 
war  with  Great  Britain.  21 — News  from  England  that  when  the  news  of  the 
Lexington  and  Concord  fight  got  thither  that  the  mob  gathered  and  were 
much  out  of  humor,  and  that  Lord  North  promised  that  there  should  be  no 
more  troops  sent  to  America ;  but  whether  they  dispersed  upon  that  'tis  not 
said,  and  truly  what  the  news  is  and  how  it  comes,  I  don't  know,  but  expect 
when  the  post  comes  along,  we  may  learn  something. 

January  I,  1876 — Grant  us  help  in  this  day  of  trouble  ;  a  very  remarkable 
year  past ;  the  most  that  I  ever  saw — unnatural  war,  great  sickness,  and 
remarkable  drought.  100  years  ago  we  were  in  a  struggle  with  the  Indians, 
who  rose  up  in  rebellion  and  designed  the  ruin  of  the  country,  but  God  pre- 
served us.  In  the  year  past  the  leaders  of  our  nation  have  sent  troops  to 
subdue  and  bring  us  under  in  this  country,  to  submit  to  their  arbitrary  and 
tyrannical  measures.  Much  blood  has  been  shed — towns  destroyed.  I  do 
humbly  pray  that  God  would  humble  and  reform  us,  and  heal  our  backslid- 
ings,  and  yet  regard  us  in  our  low  estate,  and  relieve  us  in  this  calamity,  and 
grant  that  real  religion  may  yet  revive  and  flourish,  and  that  we  may  know 
God  and  turn  to  Him  and  accept  the  punishment  of  our  sins,  and  answer 
the  ends  of  it. 

5 — By  post  we  have  the  king's  speech  to  Parliament  and  observe  that  he 
seems  resolutely  set  to  bring  the  Americans  under.  O  Lord,  be  pleased  to 
restrain  the  wrath  of  man  and  cause  it  to  praise  thee. — 12 — Report  that  the 
great  mortar  and  some  cannon  are  brought  through  the  woods  from  Ticon- 
deroga.  What  the  design  is  I  do  not  know.  The  Lord  mercifully  regard 
and  help ;  otherwise  all  these  schemes  and  pains  and  labors  and  expenses 
will  be  to  no  purpose. 

March  28 — This  day  our  military  company  was  called  together  and  chose 
their  officers.  I  prayed  with  them  at  the  meeting  house. 

April  9 — I  hear  of  tumults  and  disorderly  practices,  stupidity,  hardness 
of  heart,  atheism,  and  unbelief  prevail.  The  British  ministry  breathe  out 
cruelty  against  the  colonies  still.  Things  look  darker  and  darker.  21 — 
Sabbath,  and  a  quiet  Sabbath.  No  alarm  or  tumult,  praised  be  God. 

May  I. — A  report  of  20,000  troops  at  Halifax  from  England,  not  yet  con- 
firmed. 

July  24. — A  number  of  people  gathered  together,  some  dressed  like 
Indians  with  blankets,  and  manifested  uneasiness  with  those  that  trade  in 
rum,  molasses,  sugar,  etc.  I  understand  that  a  number  went  to  Merchant 
Colton's  and  have  again  taken  away  his  goods.  I  don't  see  the  justice  or 
equity  of  it.  Many  don't  approve  of  it,  but  have  not  resolution  enough  to 
interpose  and  endeavour  redress.  I  am  fearful  of  special  troubles  in  this 
place,  not  only  on  account  of  Samuel  Colton's  goods,  but  also  because  sev- 
eral of  our  people  are  going  into  service  in  Connecticut,  and  so  our  quota 
will  be  deficient,  and  possibly  men  may  be  drafted. 


211 

August  ii. — This  day  I  read  publickly,  being  required  thereto  by  the 
Provincial  Council,  the  Declaration  of  the  Continental  Congress  for  Inde- 
pendency. 21. — Joseph  Bumstead  (a  trusty  man  servant  of  the  family)  and 
grandson  Stephen  set  out  for  Roxbury  to  join  the  army. 

[The    following   directions    are  found  in  a    letter  addressed  to  this  grandson : 

MY  DEAR  GRANDCHILD — As  you  are  going  abroad,  and  may  be  expofed  to  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  to  fickness,  and  possibly  to  y  fword  of  ye  enemy ;  as  alfo  you 
may  be  in  danger — Great  danger — of  fin,  I  Give  you  thefe  directions: 

ist.  Take  care  of  your  health,  don't  unneceffarily  expofe  yourfelf  to  heat  and 
cold ;  be  careful  as  to  your  diet,  and  don't  be  too  free  with  fruits  that  are  like  to 
chill  your  ftomach  and  expofe  you  to  ye  dyffentery  and  difeafes  common  to  ye  fall 
of  ye  year. — 2d.  Obey  ye  orders  of  your  officers,  don't  expofe  yourfelf  to  military 
punifhment  by  difregarding  ye  orders  of  your  Superiors:  be  kind  to  your  com- 
panions and  fellow  soldiers. — 3d.  Avoid  temptation  to  fin,  to  all  manner  of  fin : 
don't  accustom  yourfelf  to  drinking,  to  fit  with  thofe  y'  meet  together  to  drink. 
Don't  take  God's  name  in  vain,  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh 
his  name  in  vain.  Carefully  avoid  Gaming,  playing  at  cards,  and  dice;  thofe  per- 
fons  that  do  fo,  Generally  fall  into  much  fin. — 4th.  Fear  God  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments. Eccl.  12:  13. — 5th.  Attend  upon  the  public  worfhip  of  God,  when 
you  can. — 6th.  Pray  to  God  in  fecret.  Matt.  6:  6. — 7th.  Ready'  Scriptures  daily. 
John  5 :  39. — 8th.  Avoid  quarreling  and  contention.  Get  fome  acquaintance  with 
my  Relations  in  Roxbury  and  let  them  know  who  you  be. 

Behave  with  decency  and  modefty,  and  fo  as  to  credit  religion,  to  adorn  the  Doc- 
trine of  God  our  Saviour.  The  Lord  be  with  you  and  keep  you  in  his  fear.  Hear 
oh  my  Grandfon,  and  receive  my  faying,  that  the  years  of  thy  life  may  be  many.  If 
the  Lord  pleafe  I  hope  I  may  yet  fee  you  in  the  Land  of  the  living.  The  Lord  pre- 
pare for  what  his  pleafure  may  be  as  to  that. 

I  am  your  loving  Grand-Father,     STEPH"  WILLIAMS.] 

L.m.  Aug'.  20,  1776. 

14 — Sabbath.  This  day  a  number  of  soldiers  came  from  town  on  their 
march  to  the  southward  and  breakfasted  eastward  of  Dea.  Ely's.  Not  so 
much  interruption  as  we  feared.  The  men  behaved  with  moderation.  They 
are  under  the  conduct  of  Gen.  Lee,  who  is  gone  down  the  other  side. 

1 6 — Report,  probably  true,  that  our  forces  at  Quebec  have  met  with  a 
great  rebuff.  Gen.  Montgomery  killed,  Col.  Arnold  wounded,  70  men  killed, 
300  taken. 

Sept.  4 — Awful  work ;  our  troops  driven  from  Long  Island  ;  reports  more 
affecting  and  distressing;  thousands  destroyed,  especially  Connecticut 
people.  6 — A  gentleman  of  intelligence  came  from  New  York  and  gave  me 
a  more  favorable  account.  12— Report  of  regulars  and  Indians  coming 
down  the  Mohawk  river  towards  Albany  ;  likely  to  divide  our  forces  and 
distress  us  on  every  side.  Report  that  the  General  Court  has  voted  that 
every  fifth  man  of  our  militia  be  ready  at  a  minute's  warning.  14 — In  the 
evening  an  order  came  to  have  the  militia  ready  at  a  minute's  warning. 
Sabbath  disturbed. 


212 

Oct.  i — Several  persons  inimical  to  American  liberty  brought  to  town 
some  confined  in  the  jail ;  others  carried  to  Worcester,  brought  from  the 
Westward,  near  Hudson  river. 

Nov.  16 — This  day  a  number  of  men  called  tories  were  escorted  by  a 
party  of  armed  men  and  came  to  Dea.  Ely's  and  breakfasted,  from  Long 
Island,  who  have  showed  themselves  unfriendly  to  the  liberties  of  America. 
Lord  grant  moderation  and  kindness.  25 — Dark  weather,  dark  things, 
stupidity,  and  obstinacy;  disregard  of  the  business  of  the  house  of  God. 

30 — Military  Co.  called  together  at  a  minute's  warning  to  go  wherever 
called.  People  don't  appear  forward. 

December  4 — Our  soldiers  begin  to  return  that  enlisted  for  a  stated  time, 
and  people  seem  engaged  to  get  money,  and  I  fear  by  oppression  and  unjust 
measure.  6 — Reported  a  large  fleet  appears  before  New  London.  People 
are  in  a  fright  and  the  Connecticut  militia  flocking  down  to  New  London. 

31 — The  last  day  of  the  year.  It  has  been  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  history  of  America.  The  people,  by  their  Congress,  have  declared 
Independency,  and  the  king's  troops  and  fleets  are  come  against  us.  Battles 
have  been  fought;  forts  and  towns  taken;  much  blood  shed;  many  taken 
captive  and  wounded  ;  many  sick,  and  many  have  died  in  our  army.  Sick- 
ness has  everywhere  prevailed  ;  deaths  have  been  many  ;  a  clay  of  darkness 
indeed. 

And  so  the  good  old  pastor's  diary  goes  on  in  alternate  rumors, 
forebodings,  and  spiritual  lamentations,  giving  us  a  vivid  insight  of 
those  troublous  times.  The  Revolutionary  period  might  also  be  illus- 
trated by  many  other  papers  of  old  Longmeadow  families,  muster-rolls, 
officers'  commissions,  certificates  of  soldiers'  claims,  etc.,  all  showing 
how  close  and  sympathetic  was  the  relation  of  this  New  England  pre- 
cinct to  the  great  national  struggle.  We  have  also,  revealed,  honest 
differences  of  opinion^  hinted  at  in  Parson  Williams's  remembrance  of 
the  king  continued  till  he  was  reminded  of  its  untimeliness  by  the 
sudden  sitting  down  of  his  patriotic  auditors  when  that  petition  came ; 
in  his  reading  from  the  pulpit  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
"  being  required  thereto  by  the  Provincial  Congress ;  "  and  in  his 
sympathetic  allusion  to  the  Merchant  Colton  case,  a  fuller  explanation 
of  which  is  given  in  the  following  section. 

As  the  case  progresses  towards  its  close,  gleams  of  sunshine  light 
up  the  clouded  pages.  On  the  day  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  the 
diary  records  "  great  rejoicing  in  town  ;  great  guns  fired  ;  bells  rung  ; 
rockets  played  at  ye  Court-house ;  taverns  illuminated.  Rev.  Mr. 
Breck  and  many  people  went  into  ye  meeting-house ;  he  prayed ;  the 
people  sang  psalms  and  hymns." 


213 


I.— THE  MERCHANT  SAMUEL  COLTON  DOCUMENTS. 

The  original  documents  in  the  care  of  Merchant  Colton,  referred 
to  in  the  Historical  Address,  page  42,  and  in  Appendix  H,  page  210, 
are  of  great  interest  as  throwing  light  upon  some  of  the  transactions 
of  those  troublous  times.  The  petition  of  the  citizens  to  the  General 
Assembly  for  an  act  of  indemnity,  when  they  were  afterwards  threat- 
ened with  civil  suits  to  compel  their  restoration  of  the  property  they 
had  taken,  and  the  counter  remonstrance  of  Merchant  Colton  pre- 
pared for,  but  vainly  presented  to,  the  next  General  Assembly,  are 
both  able  and  interesting  documents  ;  and  only  their  great  length  pre- 
cludes their  publication  in  full.  A  synopsis  of  each  is,  however,  given 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  very  words  of  the  documents  themselves  : 
To  the  Honble  Senate  and  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Maffa- 
chufetts  in  General  Court  affembled  on  the  firft  Wednefday  of  January  the  7th  1881 : 
The  Petition  of  Nath1  Ely,  Feftus  Colton,  Azariah  Woolworth  all  of  a  Parifh 
called  Long  Meadow  in  Springfield  in  the  County  of  Hampfhire  humbly  fheweth, 
that  at  the  Beginning  of  the  prefent  Conteft  between  Great  Britain  and  the  American 
States  there  was  a  Confiderable  Time  when  the  courts  of  Juftice  were  fhut  up  and 
the  Operation  of  the  Laws  of  the  Land  fuipended  and  all  Power  having  originated 
from  the  Body  of  the  people  reverted  back  to  its  fource  and  Fountain  and  was  in 
Fact  exercifed  by  them  in  fome  Inftances  and  in  others  by  Comtees  appointed  by  the 
People  for  that  Purpofe ;  That  it  was  found  abfolutely  neceffary  at  that  Time  to 
guard  againft  Evils  and  Mischiefs  which  then  threatened  the  Deftrudtion  of  the 
whole  Body,  that  for  that  Purpofe  it  was  found  Neceffary  to  hinder  fome  Members 
of  the  Community  from  acting  Contrary  to  the  general  Welfare  Juil  as  their  Humor 
or  malice  fliould  Direct  as  to  imprifon  thofe  that  were  hoftile  to  feize  on  Private 
property  where  neceffary  and  in  fome  Inftances  to  prevent  People  from  Ufeing  their 
Property  in  fuch  a  Manner  as  effentially  to  injure  the  whole.  That  in  fome  In- 
ftances whole  Towns  or  Parifhes  arofe  in  a  Body  to  Correct  or  prevent  Something 
which  appeared  inconfiftant  with  the  general  Good  and  in  fome  Inftances  the  people 
when  thus  affembled  acted  for  themfelves  without  Delegating  Their  Authority  to 
any  others  that  on  other  occafions  when  the  people  were  affembled  they  chofe  fev- 
eral  Perfons  out  of  their  Body  to  act  for  them,  and  that  ufually  when  People  were 
affembled  in  Town  Meetings  they  chofe  general  Comtees  of  Safety  to  manage  the 
Pudentials  of  their  Conftituents  for  fome  Limited  Time  but  as  all  Power  was  vefted 
in  the  body  of  the  people,  they  had  a  Right  to  Delegate  it  to  others  in  any  Way  they 
thot  beft  and  the  power  Derived  was  the  fame  in  each  of  the  above  Cafes,  that  at 
thofe  times  many  things  were  done  by  the  body  of  People  and  by  their  Comtees 
which  Could  not  be  Juftified  at  a  Time  when  Juftice  was  adminiftered  by  the  Law  of 
the  Land  tho  at  the  time  of  doing  them  they  were  not  only  Juftifiable  but  neceffary 
and  Commendable  as  being  done  for  the  general  Good.  That  on  the  Happy  Re- 
iftablifhment  of  order  and  Juftice  as  adminiftered  by  Law  there  was  Danger  that 
thofe  that  had  efcaped  themfelves  for  the  public  would  be  ruined  by  the  Malice  and 
Revenge  of  their  Enemies,  in  order  for  the  Prevention  Whereof  the  Legiflature 
have  paffed  feveral  Acts  of  Indemnification  and  Pardon  but  unhappily  for  your 


214 

Petitioners  the  provifion  already  made  Does  not  extend  to  all  Cafes  that  Come 
within  the  fame  Reafon  and  require  the  fame  or  fome  other  Remedy. 

To  this  Merchant  Col  ton  replies  by  first  exposing  at  equal  length  'the 
Artifice  of  the  Petitioners, 'in  first  concealing  from  him  for  two  weeks 
the  knowledge  of  the  citation  upon  him  which  they  had  procured  from 
the  General  Assembly,  to  show  cause  within  twenty  days  why  such  an 
act  of  indemnity  should  not  be  passed,  and  in  finally  serving  this  cita- 
tion upon  him  at  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  from  Boston  only  six 
days  before  the  expiration  of  the  time  allowed  ;  and  in  then  using  their 
own  knowledge  of  his  partial  answer  thus  hurriedly  prepared,  and  his 
plea  for  a  longer  time  for  preparation — which  had  accidentally  fallen 
into  their  hands  instead  of  those  to  whom  it  was  sent — to  hasten  a 
meeting  of  the  Assembly  Committee  appointed  to  consider  the  case, 
to  compel  the  attendance  and  answer  in  his  behalf  of  counsel  unin- 
structed  by  him  and  wholly  unprepared,  and  in  thus  finally  procuring 
the  passage  of  the  desired  act  upon  a  hearing  which  was  really  only 
an  "  ex  parte  "  one,  through  their  '  Artifice.' 

Replying  then  more  particularly  to  their  preamble,  the  remonstrant 
says  that  he  "  Cannot  but  Take  Notice  of  the  Artful  Manner  in  which 
the  Subject  is  Introduced."  Conceding  then  most  fully  all  which  they 
have  claimed,  so  far  as  it  applies  to  periods  when  the  laws  were  in- 
deed suspended,  he  yet  claims  .that  the  whole  case  of  the  petitioners 
lies  outside  of  this  line  of  argument,  as  they  have  themselves  practi- 
cally admitted  by  asking  for  a  peculiar  act  of  indemnity  in  addition  to 
those  general  ones  which  they  cite  as  precedents. 

To  the  further  allegation  of  the  petitioner  that 

The  fd  Sam1  Early  fhewed  an  unfriendly  Difpofition  to  the  Liberties  of  his  Coun- 
try and  exerted  himfelf  with  the  People  to  blafl  the  Power  and  Influence  of  the 
Congrefs  of  the  United  States  and  the  general  Court  of  this  State  as  we  Can  (hew 
by  a  Variety  of  Inftances,  and  Contemning  and  Difpifing  the  Recommendations  and 
Authority  of  both  and  fordidly  preferring  his  own  private  Intereft  to  the  general 
Welfare  of  the  whole  he  acted  in  direct  Oppofition  thereto  in  Divers  Inftances  par- 
ticularly he  raifed  Confiderable  on  the  prices  of  his  Rum,  Salt,  &c  on  Hand  and 
declined  felling  unlefs  for  filver  Money  whereupon  after  moderate  Meafures  to  Re- 
claim him  had  been  found  ineffectual,  the  Body  of  the  People  of  fd  Parifh  moved 
with  Juft  Indignation  at  his  Conduct  Deprived  him  of  the  Poffeffion  of  ld  Rum  Salt 
&c,  whereupon  fd  Colton  defired  his  Goods  might  be  Reftored  to  him  which  was 
Done  on  his  Promifmg  freely  to  Difpofe  of  them  at  the  ufual  Prices  of  thofe  Arti- 
cles but  he  very  foon  relapfed  into  his  former  Conduct  the  people  then  arofe  a 
Second  Time  and  Retook  the  Goods  from  fd  Colton  and  Delivered  the  fame  to 
your  Petitioners  and  fome  others  who  were  appointed  a  Comtee  for  the  Body  of  the 
people  of  fd  parifh  to  Difpofe  of  the  fame  whereupon  an  exact  Account  of  the 
Quantity  of  each  was  taken  by  a  Perfon  under  Oath  for  that  Purpofe,  and  a  Partic- 
ular account  kept  of  the  Quantity  fold  to  each  perfon  and  the  price  alfo  which  we 
Can  now  produce,  the  price  was  high  as  the  Regulated  Price  for  the  fame  Articles 
the  next  Spring  and  no  Deduction  made  therefrom  for  felling  and  the  Money  arifing 
from  the  Sale  of  the  whole  foon  Carried  to  the  Houfe  of  the  fd  Sam1  and  there  left  for 
him  tho  he  then  declined  accepting  thereof,  but  there  is  no  Doubt  but  he  afterwards 
Converted  the  Money  to  his  Ufe. 


215 

The  remonstrant  replies  that— it  is  True  your  Memorialift  was  Poffeffed 
with  a  Confiderable  Quantity  of  weft  India  Goods  in  July  1776  and  at  the  time  as 
Mentioned  In  the  Petition  which  he  was  felling  and1  Retailing  at  fuch  Reafonable 
Prices  as  He  could  afford  the  fame,  but  that  he  ever  manifefted  any  Unfriendly  Dif- 
pofition  to  the  liberties  of  his  Country  by  any  Prediction  or  Attach1  to  Britain  or  the 
Britifh  Government  (which  no  Doubt  is  the  Idea  Defignd  to  be  Conveyd  by  the 
Terms)  he  utterly  denys.  Nor  Does  he  think  this  was  ever  his  Character  however 
his  Enemies  may  Reprefent  him  to  anlwer  their  Own  particular  private  views,  on  the 
Contrary  he  hath  always  Entertained  the  moft  Cordial  Efteem  Regard  and  attach- 
ment to  the  Liberties  of  this  Country  and  of  Mankind  and  a  fmceer  abhorrence  of 
Tyranny  in  all  its  forms  But  Then  Being  a  Perfon  Naturally  of  a  Good  and  Steady 
Temper  of  mind  and  a  Lover  of  peace  and  order  in  fociety  and  one  that  avoided 
Contention  and  Strife  as  much  as  Poffible  throughout  the  whole  Courfe  of  his  Life 
he  did  not  fall  in  with  all  the  madnefs  and  Extravagances  of  the  Times  or  aft  the 
part  of  one  who  might  be  Juftly  called  Liberty  'Mad.  Or  that  your  Memorialift 
ever  Exerted  himfelf  or  did  any  act  Either  by  himfelf  or  in  Connection  with 
others  to  Blaft  the  Power  and  influence  of  Congrefs  or  of  the  Gen1  Court  he  utterly 
Denys  or  that  he  ever  Contemn"3  or  Difpisd  their  Recommendation  or  acted  in  Di- 
rect oppofition  thereto  knowingly  in  any  Inftances  Is  what  he  Likewise  Denys  tho' 
poffibly  he  may  have  Done  it  Thro'  Inadvertence  or  inattention,  on  the  Contrary  he 
hath  Conftantly  Endeavoured  to  Demean  himfelf  as  a  Peaceable  Member  of  Soci- 
ety and  Govern  himfelf  by  and  Conform  to  fuch  Regulations  and  Recommendations 
as  were  made  from  time  to  time  by  The  Honle  Congrefs  or  Gen1  Court  in  Like  Man- 
ner as  other  of  his  fellow  Citizens  did  at  the  fame  time.  But  now  as  to  the  partic- 
ular Inftances  that  are  given  your  Memo8'  Begs  leave  to  obferve  fome  things  more 
particularly,  and  As  to  his  ....  and  Raifing  upon  the  prices  of  Goods  then  upon 
Hand  which  is  firft  Mentioned  this  your  Memorialift  Conceives  not  to  be  Contrary 
to  or  in  Direct  Oppofition  to  any  Recommendations  of  Congrefs  then  in  force.  But 
that  the  Refolution  of  Congrefs  for  that  purpofe  had  been  fome  time  Before  Re- 
pealed Not  indeed  before  it  had  Loft  its  Effect  and  opperation  Throughout  the 
whole  Continent  for  it  is  a  Matter  of  too  publick  General  knowledge  to  Queftion  it  that 
the  prices  of  almoft  every  Article  of  Foreign  goods  and  moft  articles  of  this  Coun- 
try Produce  were  then  Raifed  Confiderably  higher  than  Before  the  War,  of  which 
the  fcarcity  of  the  Currency  was  the  Undoubted  Caufe  and  your  Memo"  thinks  he 
may  With  Truth  and  Confidence  fay  of  himfelf  that  the  Articles  Mentioned  Rum 
and  Salt  were  fold  by  him  at  Lower  and  more  Reafonable  Rate  than  by  other  Deal- 
ers In  Gen1  at  that  Diftance  in  the  Country  and  that  Both  by  Whole  Sail  and  Retail 
and  of  which  he  trufts  he  can  give  your  Honours  undoubted  Proof,  as  to  the  other 
Inftances  Given,  that  your  Memoralift  Declind  Selling  only  for  Silver  Money  this 
your  Memorialift  prefumes  to  fay  is  as  falfe  as  it  is  invidious  and  Malicious  and  what 
your  Memo81  is  abundantly  able  to  difprove,  all  his  Neighbours  and  others  that 
delt  with  him  Know  the  Contrary  and  that  He  Received  Both  Silver  and  paper  In- 
difcriminately  In  Payment  for  his  Goods  but  chiefly  the  Latter,  And  indeed  he  fur- 
niflied  the  Publick  with  very  Confiderable  Supplies  which  were  paid  only  in  paper 
•Bills ;  and  So  far  has  your  Memorialift  Been  from  Taking  advantage  of  the  times  to 
Encreafe  his  Eftate  by  Oppreffion  Extortion  Or  Monopily  fo  far  from  fordidly  im- 
proving his  own  Intereft  to  the  Gen1  welfare  as  is  Suggefted  that  he  Believes  he  may 
Truly  fay  he  Hath  Sufferd  more  in  His  fortune  and  Loft  more  of  his  intereft  During 
the  War  Than  the  whole  Parifh  Befide  and  he  is  Confident  that  before  he  was 
28 


2l6 

Robbd  of  His  Goods  by  the  Petit'8  and  others  he  had  furnifhed  more  Supplies  to 
the  publick  and  that  chiefly  upon  Credit,  than  the  whole  parifh  Befide.  and  Every 
one  Knows  the  Publick  had  Nothing  but  Paper  Bills  to  pay  their  Creditors  with. 
Your  Memorialift,  therefore  Hopes  your  Honors  will  Confider  thefe  Falfe  Ground- 
lei's  Allegations  as  the  mere  fruits  of  Slander  and  abufe  and  as  Calculated  and  De- 
figned  to  Bring  an  Odium  upon  him  and  his  Caufe 

To  the  further  allegation  of  the  petition  that 

Said  Colton  was  at  that  time  adjudged  by  the  general  Comtee  of  Safety  for  the  whole 
Town  to  be  unfriendly  and  Inimical  to  the  Liberties  of  his  Country  and  unanimoufly 
agreed  to  be  advertized  as  fuch,  as  will  appear  by  the  Depofitions  of  the  Chairman 
and  one  other  of  the  fd  Comt68  hereto  annexed  and  which  was  prevented  not  by  any 
Reformation  of  the  fd  Colton  but  by  a  fingular  Circumftance  which  we  Decline  men- 
tioning at  prefent. 

The  remonstrant  replies  that 

As  this  appears  to  him  to  be  a  Matter  of  Great  Confequence,  he  hopes  for  your 
Honrs  Indulgence  and  patient  attention  to  what  he  has  to  offer  in  his  own  vindica- 
tion, and  here  he  hopes  your  Honrs  will  call  to  mind  the  intemperated  Heat  and 
Furious  Zeal  manifefled  at  the  Beginning  of  the  prefent  Conteft  againft  moft  of  the 
Traders  in  the  Country  who  continued  in  the  ordinary  Courfe  of  their  Bufmefs  which 
conftrained  many  of  them  to  Store  and  Leave  off  Trade  intirely  and  it  was  your 
Memorialift's  miffortune  to  have  fome  of  thefe  over  Zealous  Perfons  who  Either 
thro'  Enmity  or  Envy  or  perhaps  only  from  their  over  Zealous  Temper  of  Mind 
Raifd  a  Clamour  againft  him  in  the  year  1775  a  time  when  the  minds  of  too  many 
were  full  of  jealoufy  and  Sufpicion  and  this  occafioned  a  Complaint  to  be  made 
againft  him  to  the  Comtee  of  Inflection  and  Safety  for  the  Town  that  he  had 
Raifed  upon  the  prices  of  his  Goods,  upon  which  he  was  Called  and  accordingly 
appeared  Before  the  Comt"  to  Vindicate  Himfelf  and  the  only  particular  Charge 
or  inftance  Eleged  in  the  Complaint  as  far  as  your  Memori"  can  Recollect  was  his 
Selling  some  Liver  Oyl  at  a  higher  Rate  than  before  the  War,  and  that  he  had 
raifed  and  increased  the  price  of  this  Article  which  as  all  Dealers  in  it  well  know  is 
very  apt  to  Leak  and  waft  by  being  kept  any  length  of  Time,  which  was  the  fact 
with  this,  fo  that  he  Could  not  afford  it  fo  cheap  as  Before  without  being  a  Loler 
and  this  your  Memor"  offerd  as  his  Excufe  and  for  his  Vindication  to  the  Comtee 
and  this  he  Thought  Sufficiently  Satiffadlory.  Sure  he  is  that  it  must  be  fo  to  all 
Reafonable  unprejudiced  Perfons.  this  he  Conceives  to  be  the  Simple  State  of  the 
Cafe  Neither  was  there  ever  any  Pretence  of  any  other  Charge  againftt  him  that 
he  knows  of  nor  any  ....  of  his  Gen1  unfriendly  Difpofition  to  the  Caufe  of  his 
Country  or  oppofition  to  it  much  lefs  of  his  attachment  to  Britain  and  the  Britifh  Gov- 
ernment and  even  for  this,  after  the  moft  Carefull  Inquiry  of  the  Members  of  the 
Comtee  he  does  not  find  they  ever  Came  to  any  Refolution  to  Convince  him  much 
lefs  to  Publifh  him  as  an  Enemy  to  his  Country  as  is  afferted  in  the  Petn.  Sure  he 
is  he  had  never  any  Knowledge  of  any  fuch  Thing.  Not  that  he  Doubts  but  Some 
of  the  Comtee  had  Inclination  enough  to  do  it  to  Gratify  their  own  private  Enmity 
or  intemperate  Zeal  as  some  would  every  Perfon  who  at  this  time  had  Been  found 
to  have  Taken  Only  a  Cup  of  Tea.  But  the  Generality  of  the  Comtee  were  of  a 
Different  and  more  Cool  Temper  and  Prevented  moft  of  the  Exceffes  of  thefe  over 
Zealous  perfons  of  all  Which  your  Memor"  hopes  abundantly  to  Satiffy  your  Honrs 
by  the  Teftimony  of  a  Number  of  the  Comtee  Themfelves  and  that  therefore  the 


Perfons  who  make  the  application  Annexd  to  the  Petn  Labour  under  fome  very, 
great  Miftake  Refpe6ting  the  Matter,  they  are  Certainly  Miftaken  in  Suppofing  that 
they  were  of  the  Comtee  at  all  in  the  year  thefe  goods  were  Taken  away  from  your 
Memorst  as  will  appear  from  the  Town  Records  themfelves  and  what  that  Singu- 
lar Circumftance  may  be  which  presented  your  Memorst  from  being  Publifhed  as  an 
Enemy  Referred  to  in  that  Petn  your  Memorst  cannot  even  guefs. 

To  the  allegation  of  the  petitioners  in  their  preamble  that  at  the 
time  these  goods  were  taken  from  him,  viz.,  in  July,  1776,  we  were 
without  law  and  the  administration  of  justice,  the  remonstrant  replies 
that  at  the  time  thefe  Goods  were  Taken  from  him,  (viz)  in  July  1776 'tis  a  matter 
of  Publick  Notoriety  that  Both  the  Juftice  of  the  Super  Court  and  Juftice  of  the 
peace  were  then  Commiffioners  who  Might  fufficiently  reftrain  and  Punifh  all  Delin- 
quents and  Offenders  againft  the  Laws  tho'  no  civil  Matters  were  then  Heard  or  tried 
in  the  Country,  to  Reprefent  your  Memor8'  therefore  as  a  Dangerous  Perfon  and  an  • 
Offender  againft  the  Laws  and  then  Bring  no  civil  Authority  to  Try  and  Punilh  him 
for  his  Suppofd  Dangerous  Crimes  and  that  therefor  on  this  account,  the  Petitioners 
with  others  folely  with  a  view  to  the  Public  good  were  as  it  were  oblidged  to  Inter- 
fere of  their  own  Heads  and  Deprive  him  of  his  property  Which  he  was  ufing  in 

such  an  invidious  Manner  and  to  the  Hurt  of  Society  muft  be  fure  idle If 

your  Memor8'  was  an  evil  doer  he  might  Certainly  be  punifhed  by  the  Proper  author- 
ity and  then  no  occafion  for  private  violence  and  this  muft  Convince  all  Judicious 
and  Imparcial  perfons  that  fome  other  motive  than  pure  Patriotifm  and  a  Regard  to 
the  good  of  the  Community  was  the  inducement  to  Rob  and  fpoil  your  memor"  of 
His  property. 

To  the  allegation  of  the  petitioners  that  they  acted  by  the  concur- 
rence and  advice  of  two  of  the  General  Committee  of  said  town,  being 
all  of  that  body  that  lived  in  that  Parish,  the  remonstrant  gives  a  brief 
statement  of  the  circumstances  of  the  transaction,  and  then  shows  that 
the  petitioners  really  acted  in  direct  opposition  to  the  advice  of  the 
committees  of  the  town,  and  of  the  several  towns  in  this  section  met 
in  convention. 

In  July  1776  a  Great  Number  of  Perfons  Blackt  and  in  Difguife  Affembled  To- 
gether at  a  late  Hour  of  the  Night  at  your  Memor8"  Houfe,  He  and  his  family  being 
then  within  and  Retird  to  Reft  upon  which  he  begs  Leave  to  observe  that  pure 
Honeft  Patriotifm  Does  not  need  any  Difguife  neither  does  it  feek  the  Darknefs  of 
the  Night  for  a  Covering,  thefe  are  rather  the  marks  of  Spoilers  and  Robbers  and 
no  Doubt  their  Number  and  Difguife  were  Difignd  to  Terrify  and  intimidate  your 
Memor81  and  Being  thus  affemd  they  forcibly  Took  and  Carried  away  a  Large  Quan- 
tity of  his  Goods,  to  the  amount  of  about  Two  or  Three  Hundred  pound  Hard 
Money,  it  is  True  your  Memorst  obtaind  and  got  Back  a  part  of  thefe  goods  again 
into  his  Poffeffion  But  not  many  Days  after  without  any  new  Caufe  given  the  fame 
Perfons  and  perhaps  others  with  them  affembled  again  in  the  Night,  forcibly  Brake 
open  his  Store  Locks  and  Took  and  Carried  away  the  whole  of  his  Runvand  Salt 
&c,  Except  a  Trifle  Left  for  private  ufe,  Ranfacking  and  Searching  his  Houfe  from 
top  to  bottom  Plundering  and  Carrying  away  what  they  Saw  fit — this  a  True  ac- 
count of  the  Manner  and  Circumftances  attending  the  Transaction.  How  Thefe 
Goods  were  afterwards  Difpofed  of  is  Beft  known  to  yr  Petitioners  nor  is  it  of  any 


2l8 

.Confequence  to  your  Honrs  tho'  we  Cannot  keep  from  obferving  that  it  is  impolTi- 
ble  for  the  Petiti"  or  any  perfon  elfe  to  know  or  afcertain  what  Goods  were  taken 
or  what  Quantity  or  that  the  whole  was  ever  Brought  to  Any  Account  what  ever. 
Suffice  it  to  Say  that  the  whole  were  Divided  among  them  or  Difpofd  of  as  they 
faw  fit  and  no  part  were  ever  Reftord  to  ye  Rightful  Owner,  Contrary  to  the  Ad- 
vife  of  the  ComtBe  of  the  Town  and  of  the  Comtee'  of  the  Several  Towns  in  this 
County  met  and  affembled  in  a  County  Convention  at  Northampton  foon  after  ;  who 
upon  application  to  them  made  in  this  Behalf  advifed  and  Earneftty  Recommended  to 
all  the  good  People  of  the  County  to  abftain  from  all  acts  of  violence  upon  the  per- 
fons  or  Properties  of  others  and  to  Reftore  to  the  Rightful  Owners  Whatever  had 
been  in  any  inftance  Taken  away  as  Appears  by  a  Coppy  of  their  proceedings  ready 
to  be  Shown  to  your  Hon™  and  fo  far  is  it  from  being  True  What  is  pretended  by 
the  Petitir"  that  they  a6ted  by  the  Advife  and  Concurrence  of  the  Comtec  they  acted 
in  Direct  Oppofition  thereto. 

To  the  claim  of  the  petitioners  that  they  kept  a  fair  account  of  the 
sales  and  disposals  of  all  the  goods  taken  away,  and  soon  after 
brought  and  offered  the  whole  of  the  money  received  for  them  to  the 
memorialist  which,  upon  his  refusing  to  accept,  they  left  with  him, 
the  remonstrant  replies  that 

He  has  to  obferve  that  the  Money  was  not  Brought  and  offerd  till  fome  time  in  the 
Year  next  after,  when  paper  Bills  had  Confiderably  fallen  and  Depreciated  and 
probably  would  not  fetch  and  purchafe  more  than  one  half  the  Goods  that  were 
taken  away  from  your  Memor".  he  therefore  abfolutely  Refufed  to  Receive  it  or 
have  any  Thing  to  do  with  it  whatever  ;  and  as  to  what  the  Petion  Mentions  of  their 
having  Been  fued  already  by  Mr  Church  and  his  Recovering  Judgment  againft 
them  for  one  Hogfliead  of  Rum  taken  out  of  your  Memoralist's  Store  at  this  Same 
Time,  it  is  True  that  Mr  Church  Recovd  Judgment  upon  a  fair  Trial  at  Law  in  ye  infe- 
rior Court  and  afterwards  in  the  Supr  Court  upon  a  Reference  to  three  very  Judi- 
cious Difmterefted  Perfons  who  all  Lived  at  a  Diftance  from  the  parties  and  Unani- 
moufly  after  a  full  and  fair  Hearing  Reported  in  favour  of  fd  Church 

To  the  further  allegation  of  the  petitioners  that 

They  have  great  Reafon  to  believe  that  between  the  Time  of  the  firft  and  fecond 
taking  of  fd  Rum  Salt  &c  from  fd  Colton  he  applied  to  Several  People  out  of  his 
own  Parifh  to  befriend  him  and  to  take  of  him  a  Hogfhead  of  Rum  or  Salt  &c  each, 
and  that  Sham  Bargains  with  that  View  only  were  made,  and  that  in  fact  if  any 
Money  was  ever  paid  to  fd  Colton  therefor,  that  the  fame  has  long  fince  been  paid 
again  by  la  Colton  as  the  Goods  were  never  Delivered  to  the  pretended  purchafers 
and  now  we  are  threatened  by  fd  Colton  and  others  the  pretended  purchafers  to  be 
Sued  for  the  Remainder  of  ld  Rum  Salt  &c  which  may  prove  our  total  Ruin  at  the 
prefent  Price  of  fd  Articles,  and  that  they  Have  Endeavored  to  fettle  with  fd  Col- 
ton by  leaving  the  whole  affair  to  Difmterefted  and  Judicious  Men,  but  he  will  not 
confent  thereto  excepting  we  will  agree  wholly  to  leave  out  of  the  Submiffion 
the  Confideration  of  his  Inimical  conduct  and  Character  and  alfo  the  Money  we  left 
at  his  Houfe  to  pay  for  the  Rum  Salt  &c  which  propofal  of  his  is  fo  unfair  and 
Difhonerable  that  we  Cannot  and  we  Truft  your  Honr"  will  think  we  ought  not 
in  Juftice  to  our  own  Selves  to  Comply  therewith. 

The  remonstrant  replies  that 
This  is  what  he  often  propofed  and  wifhd  for  Himfelf  and  by  them  as  often  Declind 


219 

unlefs  to  fuch  Men  and  upon  Such  Terms  as  he  would  not  by  any  means  Confent 
.To.  not  but  that  he  thinks  it  may  be  fettled  with  as  much  Juilice  and  fairnefs  and 
Quite  as  Little  Expenfe  in  a  Courfe  of  Law.  he  knows  and  feels  himfelf  greatly  in- 
jured and  abufed  and  at  the  Same  time  isconfcious  to  himfelf  that  he  Hath  never  de- 
ferved  it.  he  therefore  hopes  in  fome  way  or  other  He  fhall  obtain  perfonable  Satif- 
faction  either  in  a  Legal  Courfe  Or  By  the  Judgment  of  Indifferent  perfons  either 
of  which  are  very  immaterial  to  him. 

To  the  final  appeal  of  the  petitioners  that 

Being  informed  that  no  Provifion  that  is  yet  made  by  the  Legiflature  Will  Extend 
to  our  Cafe  and  that  being  no  general  Comtee  of  a  Town  we  are  not  included  in  any 
Indemnification  that  has  been  paffed  by  the  General  Court,  we  yet  Truft  your  Honr" 
will  think  that  our  Cafe  comes  within  the  fame  Reafon  as  that  of  general  Com"8,  and 
that  a  Veil  of  Eternal  Oblivion  ought  to  be  Drawn  over  the  Tranfactions  of  thofe 
unhappy  Times  and  that  the  Law  which  was  defigned  for  the  Protection  of  the  In- 
nocent, fhould  not  now  be  ufed  to  their  Ruin  and  Deftruction. 

The  remonstrant  replies  that 

For  Your  Honr"  to  now  interfere  and  by  Act  of  Supreme  Sovereign  Power  preclude 
and  Cut  off  your  Memorialift  from  all  Tryal  of  his  Right  in  any  Way  which  is  the 
thing  prayd  for  he  apprehends  to  be  Contrary  to  the  Principles  of  Natural  Juftice 
and  tho'  it  may  be  Reafonable  that  a  veil  of  eternal  Oblivion  fhould  be  Drawn  Over 
many  Tranfactions  of  the  Late  times'  when  we  were  without  the  Due  adminiftration 
of  Juftice  in  Courfe  of  Law,  fo  far  as  the  publick  is  Concerned  and  that  Men  fhould 
not  be  Cald  in  Queftion  or  Punifhd  for  Crimes  Againft  the  peace  by  them  Committed 
and  this  were  what  found  Policy  may  Dictate,  yet  it  will  not  from  thence  follow  that  it 
will  be  Either  Juft  Reafonable  or  Politick  to  Preclude  any  one  from  Obtaining  Due 
Reparation  and  Legal  Satiffaction  for  any  violation  of  Private  property,  fo  far  as  the 
Publick  are  concerned,  the  Publick  Legiflature  No  Doubt  have  a  Right  to  Decide 
But  in  all  Matters  of  Private  Right  and  Queftions  of  Private  property  your  Memo" 
apprehends  with  all  due  Submiffion  the  Legiflature  have  no  Right  to  interpofe  and 
Deprive  any  one  of  a  Tryal  in  the  Due  Courfe  of  Law.  The  Law  of  the  Land  by 
the  Great  Charter  and  the  Bill  of  Rights  as  well  as  the  Exprefs  Provifions  of  the 
Lately  Eftablifhd  Happy  Conftitution  is  the  Birthright  of  every  free  Man  and  by 
This  Law  every  one  Who  is  injurd  in  his  Property  hath  full  Right  and  Liberty  to 
Seek  Redrefs  and  Endeavour  to  obtain  Satiffaction  in  a  legal  Way — and  with  all  due 
Submiffion  your  Memo8'  apprehends  That  the  Legiflature  themfelves  are  as  Much 
Bound  and  will  Conform  themfelves  to  the  Principles  of  the  Conftitution  and  Bill  of 
Rights  as  the  Executive  are  Bound  and  obliged  to  Conform  to  the  Laws  Themfelves. 
your  Memo8'  has  Recd  Manifeft  Injury  his  Rights  and  property  openly  invaded  and 
violated  attended  with  Circumftance  of  Great  Infult  and  abufe  as  every  unpreju- 
diced Perfon  in  the  world  muft  acknowledge  for  which  he  hath  Recd  no  Legal  Satif- 
faction and  Shall  he  now  by  an  act  of  Sovereign  power  be  Cut  off  from  all  hopes  of 
Redrefs  and  Deprivd  of  hfs  Birth  Right  the  Benefit  of  the  Law  which  is  the  Birth 
Right  of  Every  Englifhman.  this  favours  So  much  of  Cruelty  as  well  as  injuftice  that 
he  Trufts  Your  Hon"  will  not  be  inducd  by  any  Confideration  to  Comply  therewith 
or  pafs  any  act  of  Indemnity  as  Prayd  for. 

To  the  final  plea  of  the  petitioners  that 

Your  Honrs  would  pafs  an  Act  of  Indemnification  for  us  or  others  under  like  Cir- 
cumftances  or  find  out  fome  Method  to  Save  us  from  that  Rum  and  Deftfuction 
which  threatens  us. 


22O 

The  remonstrant  replies,  with  shrewdness  and  earnestness,  that 
He  Can't  but  Obferve  what  Little  Reafon  the  Petition"  have  to  Cry  out  of  the  Dan- 
ger of  their  being  Ruind  if  Your  Memost  fhould  obtain  a  Juft  Recompenfe  for  What 
hath  Been  fo  unjuftly  taken  from  him  fince  they  are  Supported  by  fuch  Members  who 
no  doubt  ought  and  will  and  Many  of  them  have  engagd  to  bear  their  Due  propor- 
tion, this  in  ftead  of  a  Reafon  for  the  Indemnity  Prayd  is  a  very  good  Reafon  againft 
it  Since  the  Lofs  Whatever  it  be  will  be  lefs  felt  and  eafier  Bourn  by  a  Number 
than  by  one  Individual 

But  Concerning  this  Multitude  of  Subfcribers  with  Which  the  Pet"  is  Backd  he 
craves  leave  to  fay  a  few  Words.  Many  of  thefe  perfons  were  Children  and  Minors 
when  thefe  Matters  were  Tranfacled  and  fome  of  them  perfecl  fttrangers  who  have 
come  into  the  Place  Since,  others  of  them  were  Parties  and  as  much  Concernd  in 
the  original  Treffpafs  and  Violence  as  the  Pet™  Themfelves  and  have  ingagd  and 
obligd  themfelves  to  Indemnify  them  or  at  Leaft  Bear  their  Proportion  of  any  Dam- 
age or  Expenfe  that  may  Be  fuftained.  many  Others  are  Nearly  related  and  Intimately 
Connected  with  Thofe  that  Did  it.  others  have  Shard  in  the  Spoil  and  plunder  and 
think  themfelves  obligd  in  Juftice  and  Hpn'  to  Endeavour  to  Serve  thofe  that  have 
Supplied  them  at  Such  Reafonable  Prices  and  no  Doubt  many  others  have  signd 
their  names  Mearly  through  importunity  and  Solicitation.  But  Let  the  Cafe  be  what- 
ever it  may  and  how  Great  foever  the  Number  be,  ftill  the  Nature  of  things  is  not 
Altered  by  any  fuch  Circumftances.  Truth  and  Juftice  Remain  Still  the  Same  And 
he  Trufts  that  Your  Hon"  will  not  be  induced  thereby  to  do  anything  againft  the 
Principles  of  Natural  Juftice  and  Sound  Policy — and  he  Humbly  hopes  your  Honrs 
Will  be  thereby  induced  to  Difmifs  the  Pet"  intirely.  But  if  notwithftanding  anything 
he  hath  already  Said  and  urgd  againft  it  your  Hon"  Should  give  Leave  and  a  Bill 
*  Should  be  Brought  in  agreable  to  the  prayer  of  the  Pet"  he  hopes  and  Earneftly 
prays  your  Hon"  Would  give  him  Leave  to  be  Heard  by  his  Councel  Againft  its 
being  Paffd  into  a  Law,  who  he  Doubts  Not  will  be  able  much  more  Clearly  and 
fully  to  Shew  and  State  to  your  Honr"  the  Injuftice  and  Inexpediency  of  Faffing  the 
Same  and  as  in  Duty  Bound  Shall  Ever  Pray. 

Springfield  (Longmeadow)  May  30.  1781.  SAM1  COLTON. 

The  desired  act  of  indemnity  was,  however,  granted  and  no  subse- 
quent efforts  of  Merchant  Colton  availed  to  obtain  any  redress.  Is 
it  strange  that  the  old  man,  conscious  to  himself  of  his  own  loyalty, 
not  only  to  his  king  but  to  his  native  country,  but  broken  now  in  health 
and  in  heart  by  what  seemed  to  him  such  cruel  injustice,  should  ever 
after  refuse  to  exchange  even  a  word  with  any  of  those  who  had  thus 
injured  him  ? 

The  actors  in  an  exciting  drama  are  not  the  best  critics  of  its  pass- 
ing scenes.  A  century's  remove  is  an  interval  none  too  long  for  ripen- 
ing that  historical  candor  essential  to  a  just  judgment  of  the  men  and 
measures  of  such  an  excited  period  as  our  Revolutionary  struggle. 
Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  our  liberty-loving  ancestors  were 
sometimes  hurried  by  the  very  passion  of  their  patriotism  into  acts 
which  neither  their  own  cooler  judgment,  nor  that  of  their  descend- 
ants, can  wholly  approve,  as  in  the  case  here  described. 


221 


J.— THE  WILLIAMS  DIARY. 

Among  the  superior  advantages  for  illuminating  Longmeadow  his- 
tory, by  no  means  exhausted  in  this  volume,  not  the  least  is  the  diary  of 
Stephen  Williams,  in  ten  manuscript  volumes,  beginning  January  i, 
1716,  and  ending  June  i,  1782.  Its  peculiar  value  consists  in  its 
quaint  simplicity,  and  perfectly  ingenuous  record  of  daily  occurrences. 
The  thorough  internal  evidence  that  it  was  never  meant  for  the  public 
eye  makes  it  all  the  more  valuable,  and  imposes  a  sacred  obligation  to 
use  as  not  abusing  it.  Aside  from  its  historical  utility  in  illustrating 
particular  periods  or  events,  a  somewhat  continuous  section  of  it  can- 
not fail  to  interest  the  reader,  not  only  for  its  personal  revelations  of 
the  man,  but  also  for  its  incidental  contributions  to  the  history  of  the 
period. 

Opening  then  the  diary  at  hap-hazard,  without  any  search  for  mat- 
ters of  peculiar  interest,  let  a  few  glances  from  page  to  page  suffice 
the  present  purpose. 

May  30,  1754. — I  preached  to  ye  convention  (the  Massachusetts  Con- 
vention of  Congregational  ministers  still  continuing  its  annual  meetings  in 
Boston).  I  believe  some  were  gratified  by  my  sermon — some  I  conclude 
were  not  pleased.  I  endeavored  to  deal  faithfully  concerning  some  matters 
and  I  hope  I  delivered  the  mind  of  God  ;  and  if  God  approves,  I  disregard 
ye  displeasure  of  men. 

September  6. — The  Bears  are  about  in  great  numbers  ;  they  kill  hogs  and 
sheep.  (On  the  pth  he  goes  out  into  the  woods  with  his  neighbors  on  a 
bear  hunt.)  On  the  26th. — Was  at  ye  tryall  of  poor  Michael  Fowler  ;  fair 
and  impartial ;  found  guilty.  Oh,  that  God  would  pity  and  pardon  ye  poor 
man  and  have  mercy  on  his  soul.  Blessed  Jesus,  pity  him  as  thou  didst  ye 
poor  thief  when  thou  wast  upon  ye  cross.  (His  visits  to  this  prisoner  are 
quite  frequent.)  28. — One  Newton  convicted  of  making  and  uttering 
counterfeit  coin  ;  sentenced  to  be  pilloried  and  whipt.  Joseph  S —  and 
Eunice  W —  convicted  of  incest,  and  are  to  stand  upon  the  gallows,  &c. 
Oct.  5. — One  Taylor  and  Crawfort  got  some  hair  from  a  dead  Indian  at 
Stockbridge  and  pretended  that  they  had  killed  an  enemy  ;  but  their  sin  has 
found  them  out.  16. — Reuben  W.  has  run  away  with  John  W.'s  wife.  22. — 
I  am  much  concerned  for  Billy  Stebbins  who  is  weak  and  discouraged.  I 
have  been  to  see  him,  and  am  glad  to  find  his  spirits  up  so  well  as  they  be. 

Nov.  14. — Attended  at  ye  vendue  of  some  land  sold  by  y'  proprietors 
committee  and  proposed  that  they  put  off  ye  sale  of  the  land  below  my  pas- 
ture to  see  whether  the  town  inhabitants  or  ye  proprietors  would  not  consent 
that  the  land  might  be  left  for  ye  use  of  ye  ministry  in  Longmeadow  in  case 
they  relinquish  their  right  to  the  ministry  land  in  ye  Town.  I  hope  that  I 
did  not  go  beyond  my  line  in  what  I  did.  Dec.  10. — Wife  .went  out  to  her 
daughter  Eunice.  Came  home  in  safety,  tho'  the  beast  she  rode  on  fell. 


222 

Jan.  18,  1755. — Precinct  met  to  set  price  upon  grain.  They  sent  for  me  to 
pray  with  them,  and  they  desired  me  to  tarry — they  proceeded,  and  that 
without  heat — and  concluded  peaceably  and  without  confusion.  I  rejoyce  at 
it.  Pardon  for  Michael  Fowler — tho'  he  does  n't  know  it.  21. — Went  to 
Town  to  consult  with  ye  gentlemen  there  about  the  publishing  the  pardon 
of  poor  Fowler,  and  they  have  thot  best  to  do  it  before  ye  day  appointed  for 
ye  execution — to  prevent  the  meeting  of  ye  people  which  will  occasion  much 
expense  of  time  and  money. 

March  7. — This  day  my  neighbors  sledded  wood  for  me.  They  appeared 
in  general  engaged  in  yc  affair,  and  brot  me  more  wood  than  common.  The 
Lord  grant  love  and  unity  may  be  encouraged.  Samuel  Cooley  died  in  a 
fainting  fit.  9 — Sabbath. — I  endeavored  to  back  ye  late  Providence  by  a 
discourse,  Matt.  13.  33. 

March  n. — Fifty-one  years  ago  I  was  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  Can- 
ada. Oh,  that  God  would  affect  me  with  his  dealing  toward  me,  in  preserv- 
ing me  among  ye  Barbarous  Heathen  ;  in  returning  me  and  continuing  me 
to  this  day.  Repeated  a  sermon  to  Capt.  I.  Colton  who  is  still  confined  and 
a  number  of  neighbors  attended.  22. — Sore  broken  and  grieved  because  of 
ye  uneasiness  of  my  dear  wife.  Know  not  what  to  do.  O,  that  God  would 
shew  me  my  duty  ;  compose  and  calm  me.  (The  trouble  that  afflicts  his  wife 
is  elsewhere  spoken  of  as  "  the  vapours.")  29. — Hear  my  poor  sister  Eunice 
was  alive  at  last  January  in  Canada.  O,  that  the  Lord  will  have  mercy  on 
her  soul.  (Notwithstanding  these  constant  prayers  for  his  captive  sister, 
she  remained  to  the  end  of  her  life  wedded  to  her  Indian  life  and  her 
Roman  Catholic  faith.) 

30. — This  day  I  began  to  read  ye  Scriptures  publickly  in  ye  congregation, 
wish  and  pray  it  may  be  serviceable  and  a  means  to  promote  Scripture 
knowledge  among  us.  (This  was  an  innovation  which  Stephen  Williams 
had  some  difficulty  in  sustaining.  The  first  pulpit  Bible  was  used  Jan.  i, 
1808,  54  years  afterwards;  a  royal  folio,  price  $30,  the  gift  of  Lieutenant 
Hezekiah  Hale.) 

April  i,  1755. — Have  been  into  ye  woods  to  look  after  spruce  that  they 
make  beer  with.  I  think  we  have  found  it,  and  if  so,  I  hope  it  may  be  of 
advantage,  since  'tis  reckoned  very  wholesome.  ("  Tar  water  "  was  one  of 
Stephen  Williams'  favorite  panaceas  and  tea  of  violets  another.)  April  3. — 
Son  Nathan  home  from  college.  God  be  praised  that  we  see  ye  child  so 
comfortably  of  it. 

8. — Noise  of  the  expedition  against  Crown  Point  begins  to  increase.  II. — 
Military  companies  of  ye  Town  called  together  in  order  to  enlisting  of  men. 
14. — Mr.  Breck  here — tells  me  that  I  shall  be  applyed  to,  to  go  on  ye  present 
expedition.  If  I  should,  I  entreat  the  Lord  would  make  ye  way  of  my  duty 
plain  before  me.  May  5. — Received  a  letter  from  ye  Hon.  J.  Osborn,  Esq., 
desiring  me  to  go  as  a  chaplain  in  ye  expedition.  I  know  not  what  to  do. 
6. — Went  to  Town  to  discourse  with  Col.  Worthington,  but  I  desire  to  have 
my  eyes  with  ye  Lord,  to  show  me  what  He  wd  have  me  to  do. 


223 

(The  neighbors  come  in  and  greatly  perplex  the  good  parson  about  his 
invitation.)  8. — This  day  I  referred  ye  matter  of  my  going  to  my  Heavenly 
Father.  I  enjoyed  an  happy  serenity  and  calm.  Here  I  am — the  Lord  do 
as  it  seemeth  him  good.  9. — Lecture.  Mr.  Breck  preached  from  2  Chron. 
14,  n,  a  pertinent  sermon,  and  then  the  congregation  were  asked  whether 
they  wd  consent,  if  I  should  comply  with  the  call  given  me  to  engage  in  ye 
expedition.  Ye  major  part  voted  affirmatively.  Thus  I  have  the  voice  of 
ye  people — but  yet,  after  all,  I  refer  the  matter  repeatedly  to  God.  Col. 
Worthington  and  J.  W.  and  E.  W.  (Ephraim  Williams)  were  here  to  dis- 
course, &c.  I  am  still  at  a  loss.  (He  goes  to  Boston,  finds  his  friends  there 
generally  desirous  of  his  going.)  "  Ye  Rev.  Dr.  Sewall,  who  has  treated 
me  as  a  familiar  friend,  joined  with  me  in  special  prayers  to  God  for  direc- 
tion in  ye  affair.  We  prayed  in  his  chamber.  O,  how  good  it  is  to  draw 
nigh  to  God  and  ask  His  counsel  in  difficult  affairs.  I  have  been  brot  to 
think  it  my  duty  to  go." 

26.  Dear  Mr  Raynolds  (the  Enfield  minister)  and  his  consort  here. 
We  had  an  opportunity  to  confer  &c  and  we  prayed  together.  June  16. 
Fast  in  the  Parish — Mr  Hopkins  and  Raynolds  preached.  18.  Lecture  at 
Town  by  Mr  Breck  who  addressed  the  soldiers  a  pertinent  sermon.  19. 
Companies  mustered.  Officers  took  the  oaths.  I  took  ye  oaths  with  the 
rest.  25.  The  soldiers  of  this  place  gathered  at  Dean  (Lieut.)  Burts.  I 
v  ent  over  to  the  Deacons  (opposite  the  present  parsonage.)  We  sang  the 
121.  Psalm  and  prayed  together  and  then  they  went  off  to  town. 

The  following  is  a  sample  of  his  addresses  to  soldiers  :  I  would  exhort 
you  who  are  going  abroad  in  the  public  service.  My  dear  friends — remem- 
ber that  you  are  under  Bonds  to  God  by  yr  Baptism,  and  let  me  entreat  you, 
if  you  have  not  done  it  already,  that  you  wd':  now  personally  and  particularly 
dedicate  yourselves  to  God  ;  instantly,  by  private  transaction  of  ye  covenant 
between  God  and  yr  own  souls.  This  may  be  done  by  every  one  of  you  if 
God  dispose  yr  hearts  to  it.  I  am  very  sorry  it  is  done  by  no  more  in  a  pub- 
lick,  solemn  manner  as  it  was  done  by  most  of  yc  young  people  in  this  place 
above  16  years  of  age  in  some  of  the  first  years  of  my  ministry.  I  urge 
this  matter  upon  you  that  are  now  going  abroad ;  thus  truly  to  dedicate 
yourselves  to  God.  Take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  God,  that  the  Lord  shall 
be  your  God,  that  you  all  be  for  Him  and  none  other.  You  are  wont  in  yr 
notes  for  public  prayer  to  ask  that  you  may  be  especially  preserved  from 
sin,  and  some  add  it — the  worst  of  evils.  Yes — so  indeed  it  is — I  hope  and 
desire  you  would  second  your  own  desires  with  answerable  endeavors  to 
keep  yourselves  pure,  to  keep  at  a  distance  from  all  sin.  Be  careful  to  do 
violence  to  no  man  of  your  friends  and  countrymen  in  any  places  where  the 
army  may  be  called  to  reside.  Dont  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain  ;  dont 
give  yourselves  to  intemperance,  to  gaming,  stealing,  uncleanness.t  quarrel- 
ling. Be  much  in  prayer,  and  watch  as  well  as  pray.  Acknowledge  God 
in  all  your  ways.  Live  sensible  of  your  entire  dependence  on  God.  I  do 
now,  my  dear  friends,  bid  you  farewell,  and  may  the  Lord  preserve  your 
going  out  and  coming  in  from  this  time  forth  and  even  f orevermore.  Amen. 
29 


224 

July  i.  I  expect  to  move  this  day  to  join  the  army.  I  desire  to  give  up 
myself  to  ye  Eternall  Jehovah,  praying  He  w1  grant  me  his  gracious  pres- 
ence and  enable  me  to  do  y"  work,  business,  and  service  justly  expected  of 
me.  Gracious  God,  be  pleased  to  take  care  of  my  family  and  flock  at 
home.  I  leave  them  with  a  Gracious  Covenant  God.  If  it  be  thy  pleasure, 
be  pleased  to  return  me  in  safety  and  peace.  Ye  Lord  is  my  God,  and  my 
Father's  God.  O  Lord,  I  am  thy  servant. 

(During  that  campaign  occurs  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  September  8th, 
in  which  his  kinsman,  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  and  his  deacon,  Lieut.  Burt, 
are  both  killed.) 

Oct.  28.  1755.  I  returned  to  my  home  in  safety  and  find  my  family  in 
comfortable  circumstances.  (He  blesses  God  for  the  cordial  welcome  of 
his  neighbors,  who  flock  into  the  parsonage,  and  for  his  opportunity  on  the 
Sabbath  with  his  dear  flock  in  the  public  assembly.) 

Dec.  5.  I  hear  that  8000  hand  cuffs  were  found  aboard  a  French  vessel 
taken  near  Louisburg.  Alas !  were  they  designed  for  poor  Protestants  ? 
Dec.  10.  The  people  inye  place  are  fond  of  disposing  of  the  school  land  by 
sale  or  lease.  I  wish  they  were  not  so  hasty.  I  pray  God  to  grant  them 
prudence  and  discretion  in  managing  ye  publick  affairs.  Dec.  26.  This  day 
we  have  an  ace1  of  an  awfull  Earthquake  at  Lisbon  and  Cadiz.  A  previous 
entry,  November  i8th,  records  "  About  4  A.  M.,  awaked  and  surprized  with 
the  amazing  shock  of  an  earthquake  that  shook  the  bricks  from  the 
chimney." 

Jan.  6.  1756.  It  is  proposed  than  my  son  Davenport  should  ride  post  this 
week  to  Boston.  12.  I  have  been  at  some  pains  to  get  some  Sassafras 
roots,  hoping  that  they  may  be  serviceable  to  purify  the  blood.  O  that  God 
would  purify  my  heart. 

Feb  29.  1756.  Sabbath — My  subject  was  awfull:  ye  text  Matt  25.  41.  O 
that  God  w'1  speak  to  the  consciences  of  poor  sinners. 

(While  the  pastor's  daily  petitions  are  continually  being  offered  in  connec- 
tion with  passing  events,  on  the  day  preceding  the  Sacrament  of  Commun- 
ion there  is  almost  invariably  recorded  a  special  prayer  of  preparation, 
unusually  copious,  thoughtful,  and  minute  :)  March  6.  Tomorrow  Sabbath 
and  Sacrament  Day.  After  abundant  confessions  of  unworthiness  and 
shortcomings:  "Cleanse  me  from  my  sin  ;  sanctifie  me  thro-out ;  sweeten 
me  for  ye  enjoyment  of  Thyself  ;  give  me  to  do  duty  as  duty,  in  obedience 
to  thy  commands — shew  me  my  duty  upon  all  accounts.  If  there  should  be 
any  application  made  to  me  to  go  again  in  ye  Army,  be  pleased  to  make  ye 
way  of  duty  plain.  If  thou  would8'  not  have  me  go,  give  me  to  see  and 
know  ye  mind  of  God."  After  full  petitions  for  the  nation,  "  in  all  these 
provinces  and  colonies,"  and  in  view  of  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the  pend- 
ing war,  and  after  supplications  for  the  town  and  precinct :  "  Oh  Lord,  be 
pleased  to  bless  my  dear  family  ;  comfort,  console,  and  calm  my  consort ; 
bless  my  children  that  are  gone  out  into  families  ;  let  Samuel  be  preserved 
and  protected  and  taught  now  he  is  abroad  ;  let  Davenport  have  ye  gracious 


225 

Presence  of  God  and  health ;  let  Martha's  health  be  precious  in  God's  sight 
and  bring  her  willingly  to  sit  at  Jesus'  feet " — (and  so  on,  not  forgetting  any 
members  of  the  family,  whether  children  or  servants.) 

March  3.  People  in  a  ruffle  about  choosing  a  deacon  insisting  upon  ye 
deacon's  being  ordained,  which  I  can't  see  to  be  duty,  unless  we  have  a 
church  stock  which  many  of  the  brethren  are  averse  to.  n.  I  attended 
the  Weekly  Lecture — but  many  were  absent.  I  fear  they  are  tired  with  the 
service.  I  don't  know  but  it  will  be  best  to  lay  down  the  Lecture  for  a 
season. 

16.  Town  Meeting.  I  preached.  The  publick  affairs  went  on  with  good 
agreement,  but  we  were  interrupted  by  a  number  of  rude  soldiers  who  came 
along  and  behaved  riotously  and  wounded  severall  men  that  attempted  by 
order  of  Authorities  to  seize  them.  Mr  Tom  Hopkins  was  knocked  down, 
but  I  hope  may  do  well,  tho'  much  hurt. 

19.  Received  a  letter  from  Brigadier  Gen1  Dwight  inviting  me  to  go  as  a 
Chaplain  in  ye  army  again.  21.  Sabbath.  I  was  warm  and  affectionate  in 
my  addresses  to  ye  people,  and  I  do  pray  that  God  would  speak  to  ye  hearts 
of  my  hearers.  23.  This  day  I  went  to  Enfield  to  see  my  Dear  Friend  and 
B1'  Mr  Raynolds  and  his  family — had  an  opportunity  to  pray  with  him,  and 
had  great  pleasure  and  comfort  in  so  doing.  29.  At  y"  Lecture  I  preached 
from  John  8.  39  and  endeavored  to  show  how  unreasonable  y8  papists  are  in 
denying  ye  use  of  ye  Scripture  to  ye  Laity.  May  2.  Sabbath  and  Sacra- 
ment. I  had  my  children  severall  of  them  about  me  at  the  Lords  table. 
O,  ye  amazing  love  and  grace  and  condescension  of  God.  I  hope  I  have 
had  some  sense  of  it.  Would  that  I  might  be  one  of  ye  poor  in  Spirit,  for 
theirs  is  ye  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

26.  Now  I  have  passed  my  Grand  Climactericall  year.  I  wd  not  think 
any  other  than  that  my  times  are  in  God's  hands  and  I  rejoyce  that  they  are 
so.  27.  I  hear  Co1  Ruggles  is  gone  along  and  it  is  expected  we  march 
speedily.  31.  The  Church  met  and  brot  in  votes  for  a  deacon.  Mr  Aaron 
Colton  had  the  majority  of  votes  but  not  so  great  a  majority  as  I  could 
wish  for. 

Dec.  10.  Ye  inhabitants  of  ye  Precinct  met  to  grant  money.  They  are 
desirous  that  I  remit  a  part  of  my  salary,  because  I  had  (they  apprehend) 
good  wages  when  abroad.  I  can't  see  it  my  duty,  since  they  were  so  well 
provided  for  in  my  absence.  They  have  adjourned  the  meeting  and  made 
no  grant  to  me.  I  pray  God  to  keep  them  calm  and  give  me  prudence  and 
meekness,  and  prevent  confusion  among  us.  12.  Sabbath.  I  have  en- 
larged considerably  extempore  as  I  was  preaching  and  hope  and  desire  that 
my  so  doing  may  not  be  hurtful,  but  serviceable.  14.  I  don't  know  but 
people  will  get  into  a  heat' about  my  salary.  I  pray  that  they  may  be  kept 
from  wrong  measures.  15.  Nathan  invited  to  be  Tutor  of  Yale.  23. 
The  conversation  among  the  neighbors  is  yet  about  my  salary.  Their  spirits 
are  evidently  raised.  The  Lord  be  pleased  to  calm  and  quiet  their  spirits, 
and  keep  mine  calm  and  composed.  26.  Sabbath.  Some  rain  and  many 
people  absent  from  the  publick  worship.  We  need  resolution. 


226 

Jan.  2.  1757.  Sabbath  and  Sacrament  Day.  I  enjoyed  calmness  and 
serenity  at  ye  Sacrament,  though  my  affections  were  not  moved  as  at  some 
times.  Jan.  6.  I  have  signified  my  mind  to  the  Clerk  of  the  precinct  in 
writing  respecting  my  salary.  9.  Sabbath — very  stormy — had  prepared  a 
new  Sermon,  but  preached  an  old  one  because  the  assembly  was  small,  and 
not  able  to  write  new  sermons  sometimes  ;  hope  I  did  not  indulge  sloth. 

24.  Funeral  of  Cap'  Isaac  Colton,  attended  tho'  a  stormy  day  by  a  great 
number  of  people.  Thus  honour  was  done  him  as  one  that  had  been  useful 
among  us.  26.  Concerned  about  my  son  Davenport  who  acts  as  Deputy 
Sheriff.  Ye  Lord  give  him  to  do  justly  and  grant  that  he  may  behave  with 
tenderness  and  prudence.  27.  Went  down  to  see  my  Dear  M'  Raynolds 
and  family  and  find  that  he  is  perplexed  at  ye  conduct  of  his  people  who 
incline  to  go  to  yc  Separates.  The  Lord  be  pleased  to  support  and  comfort 
his  servant,  and  teach  and  restrain  that  people. 

Feb.  15.  Council  at  Blandford — adjourned  to  Westfield.  The  minister 
imprudent  and  the  people  violent  and  almost  outrageous.  (This  Council, 
adjourned  from  time  to  time,  appears  to  have  been  conducted  with  some- 
thing like  legal  form,  "  P.  Nelson.  Complainant.  A  Rising.  Appellant."  and 
consumed  much  time,  the  Council  besides  using  the  daytime,  sitting  up  late 
at  night,  and  the  final  result  not,  after  all,  of  much  avail.) 

Feb.  24.  Long  talk  with  Cap*  S.  Colton  and  Serg'  D.  Burt  (two  of  pre- 
cinct Committee)  about  ye  affair  of  my  salary.  I  am  in  fear  peoples  spirits 
and  tempers  are  too  much  raised  ;  and  so  mine  may  be.  The  Lord  keep  us 
from  dishonoring  his  great  name.  23.  Oh  Lord,  lead  me  not  into  tempta- 
tion, but  deliver  me  from  evil.  26.  Sabbath.  I  found  myself  more  com- 
posed than  at  some  times  and  some  what  enlarged.  I  have  been  concerned 
lest  I  become  ruffled  and  discomposed  because  of  ye  conduct  of  my  people. 
Oh,  Lord,  don't  leave  me  to  myself  and  my  own  counsels. 

13.  Sabbath.  I  have  used  great  plainness  of  speech  in  cautioning 
against  lewdness  and  lasciviousness.  Ye  Lord  grant  his  blessing  may  fol- 
low these  cautions  and  make  them  really  serviceable.  April  7.  Letter 
from  Nathan  that  Yale  College  is  about  to  form  a  Collegiate  Church.  July 
4.  We  have  had  thots  of  buying  another  negro,  but  am  at  a  loss  in  my  own 
mind.  I  pray  God  to  help  me  do  my  duty  to  those  under  my  care.  8.  This 
day  a  shock  of  an  earthquake  at  2  o'clock  p.  M. 

Aug.  i  r.  Hear  Co1  Ruggles  is  gone  along  and  left  a  pressing  message 
for  me  to  follow  him.  Went  to  Town — met  Sir  Wm  Pepperell  and  Sir  John 
S4  Clair. 

Oct.  19.  Mr  Raynolds  and  his  consort  came  here  to  ask  our  daughter 
Martha  for  their  son  Samuel.  The  young  man  is  in  Good  reputation  and  of 
Good  Behaviour.  The  family  is  most  agreeable  to  me.  I  hear  that  Revd 
M'  Edwards  is  chosen  President  of  a  New  Jersey  College.  Jan.  18.  1758. 
Last  night  I  met  the  young  men  at  ye  School  House  ;  prayed  with  them, 
advised  and  counselled  them. 


227 

Feb.  i.  I  perceive  that  there  is  some  notice  taken  of  ye  school  yl  Mr 
Wheelock  and  others  have  projected  for  the  poor  Indians  by  Lord  Halifax 
and  others  in  England.  26.  Sabbath.  Lord  London  and  his  attendants 
passed  by.  I  am  sorry  there  are  such  examples  of  travelling  on  the  Sab- 
bath by  Great  men. 

March  14.  I  am  at  a  Great  loss  what  to  do  abk  Settling  my  Estate— how 
to  do  justice  among  or  to  my  Children.  I  do  pray  that  He  y*  is  wonderfull 
in  counsell  would  be  pleased  to  direct  and  help  me.  23.  Co1  Ruggles  has 
writ  to  me  again  to  engage  in  the  expedition.  I  do  fear  that  it  won't  do 
for  me  to  think  of  it  because  of  my  age  and  infirmities. 

April  3.  This  morning  Cato  was  taken  with  a  cold  shaking  fit.  I  hear 
that  the  Rev'1  Mr  Jona  Edwards  is  dead  (he  dyed  in  the  Jerseys)  a  valuable 
man — and  a  great  loss  to  ye  church  of  God.  7.  Ye  Lord  be  pleased  to  pour 
out  of  his  Spirit  upon  us  in  order  to  our  Reformation — morall  means  of 
themselves,  will  not  do  it.  10.  This  day  we  hear  ye  Alarm  of  War,  ye 
beating  up  for  volunteers.  I  prayed  with  ye  company. 

July  31.  This  day  M/s  Edwards — ye  relict  of  ye  Revd  Mr  Jon"  Edwards 
and  her  son  Jon"  were  here.  This  Gentlewoman  has  had  sore  bereavements 
of  Late.  I  pray  God  to  be  her  support. 

Aug.  i.  I  attended  upon  the  children  at  ye  publick  Catechising.  28.  I 
catechised  ye  children — a  fine  sight  of  Children  in  ye  place.  (The  good  pas- 
tor rejoices  in  his  frequent  catechisings.  He  has  generally  about  eighty 
present.)  Sept.  7.  We  have  had  an  opportunity  for  Sociall  prayer  at  the 
House  of  G.  D.  Praised  be  the  Lord. 

8.  A  memorable  day — this  day  three  years  ajro  we  had  our  fight  at  the 
Lake.  I  desire  never  to  forget  it.  16.  What  a  poor  stupid  creature  am  I. 
Oh  for  wisdom  and  patience  and  a  care  to  redeem  time.  20.  Dear  Mr 
Raynolds  visited  me  and  we  prayed  together.  I  bless  God  for  such  a  friend. 

Nov  19.  1760.  'Tis  said  a  man  y'  came  from  ye  Army  and  was  lodged  at 
Mr  Sam1  Bliss's  in  ye  Town  is  supposed  to  have  yc  Small  pox  and  is  carried 
to  ye  pest-house;  'tis  feared  y4  he  has  communicated  ye  disease.  (His  fears 
are  sadly  realized.  The  disease  spreads  ;  a  hospital  is  established  at  Mat- 
thew's swamp  for  those  who  voluntarily  contract  the  disease  by  inoculation, 
about  which  doubtful  remedy  there  is  great  excitement  and  difference  of 
opinion.  His  son  Stebbins,  Jonathan  Ely,  and  a  number  of  others  are 
inoculated.  His  son's  house  and  the  "new  room"  in  the  parsonage  are 
occupied  for  a  time  as  hospitals,  but  as  the  disease  spreads,  all  infected  per- 
sons are  removed  either  to  the  "  Swamp  House  "  or  the  pest-house.)  Feb. 
29.  1761.  This  day  my  son  Sam1  carried  out  in  a  sleigh  six  persons  y'-  have 
taken  ye  Small  pox  by  inoculation.  Y*  Lrt  be  pleased  to  be  with  them  and 
carry  them  well  thro.  March  n.  This  day  my  son  Raynolds  and  others 
came  hither  in  order  to  prepare  to  receive  ye  small  pox. 

12.  Last  night  about  2  of  ye  clock  there  was  a  considerable  shock  of  an 
earthquake.  (He  improves  "ye  late  Providence"  in  next  Sabbath's  dis- 
course.) 


228 

13.  This  day  the  doctor  is  here  and  inoculated  yc  Gentlemen  with  us. 
19.  Town  meeting.  Mr  McKinstry  preached  a  good  sermon.  A  turmoil  is 
raised  among  ye  people  in  yc  Town  as  to  ye  affair  of  inoculation.  Severall 
of  ye  persons  y'  were  at  Matthews  Swamp  are  removed  this  day.  I  hope 
and  pray  ye  infection  may  not  be  spread  by  them.  (As  time  proceeds  the 
inoculation  process  seems  to  prove  successful  and  gains  favor.  The  good 
pastor  goes  out  to  the  swamp  from  time  to  time  and  confers  with  his  in- 
fected parishoners  through  the  window.) 

30.  This  morning  Cato  has  moveingly  advertised  me  of  my  mortality  by 
asking  me  what  he  shall  do  when  I  am  dead,  which  he  says  will  be  by  and 
by.  The  Lord  help  me  to  realize  this,  and  to  wait  on  the  way  of  faith,  re- 
pentance, and  new  obedience  till  my  change  come  ;  and  ye  Ld  be  pleased  to 
take  care  of  the  poor  fellow,  and  enlighten  him  with  ye  knowledge  of  Christ 
and  bring  him  home  to  Thyself. 

April  12.  Sabbath.  I  have  been  preaching  about  publick  reading  of  the 
Scriptures.  I  hope  people  may  be  convinced  of  ye  duty  and  y'  we  may 
attend  it  with  seriousness  and  reverence.  (On  the  next  Sabbath  he  again 
sets  up  the  practice  of  reading  the  Scriptures  from  the  pulpit.) 

April  27.  This  day  ye  doctor  determined  that  Joseph  Chapin's  wife  has 
got  the  small  pox.  We  are  in  a  toss,  but  all  our  care  will  be  to  no  purpose 
unless  God  help  us.  28.  There  seems  to  be  a  Tumult  among  us  upon 
ye  ace'  of  J.  C's  children  who  are  put  into  ye  School  House.  May  8.  I  re- 
turned home  frem  Tolland — ye  place  in  an  uproar.  Several  of  J  Chapin's 
children  sick  with  ye  Small  pox.  Ye  mother  is  carried  up  to  ye  pest-House 
in  a  chair  and  four  of  the  children,  and  E.  M.  (Mr  Woolworth's  apprentice) 
is  broke  out  and  is  carried  to  the  pest  House  also.  Ye  Ld  preserve  and  help 
and  mercifully  prevent  the  spreading  of  this  awfull  disease. 

9.  This  morning  George  C.  Cooley  came  to  me  to  deSire  I  wd  go  and 
Baptize  a  child  of  his  born  last  night,  and  not  like  to  live  in  y°  opinion  of 
M™  Warner  ye  midwife,  and  I  went  and  Baptized  it — a  number  of  neighbors 
being  present.  This  afternoon  my  son  Samuel's  wife  was  safely  delivered 
of  a  daughter.  I  bless  God  who  by  his  Providence  seems  to  be  speaking 
the  continuing  of  my  house  for  awhile  to  come — this  being  ye  fifth  Grand 
child  born  in  ye  space  of  half  a  year.  O  Lord  be  pleased  to  establish  thy 
Covenant  with  me  and  mine — to  be  a  God  to  me  and  to  my  seed  after  me. 

June  28.  Sabbath.  I  have  used  plainness  of  speech  respecting  the  sup- 
port of  ye  Gospel  ministry — a  part  of  ye  Counsell  of  God  y'  I  thot  it  my 
duty  not  to  shun  to  declare.  I  desire  that  it  may  be  well  received. 

30.  This  day  my  Sister  Eunice,  her  Husband,  her  daughter  Katherine 
and  others  come  hither  from  Canada.  Ye  Lfl  Grant  it  may  be  in  mercy  to 
her  y*  She  makes  this  visitt.  We  have  no  interpreter  and  So  can't  say  what 
her  intentions  and  pretensions  arc.  (His  sister  Eunice  was  taken  captive 
with  the  rest  of  the  family,  at  the  sack  of  Deerfield,  she  then  being  7  years 
old  and  he  n.  She  was  brought  up  by  the  Indians,  embraced  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith,  and  married  an  Indian  chief  who  adopted  the  name  of  Wil- 


229 

liams.  When  this  Indian  party  in  their  blankets,  beads,  and  moccasins 
arrived  at  Longmeadow,  and  encamped  in  the  orchard  behind  the  parsonage, 
there  was  a  great  stir  in  the  village.  The  most  assiduous  efforts  were 
made  to  induce  her  and  her  family  to  remain.  The  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts offered  a  grant  of  land  in  case  she  would  consent.) 

July  r.  I  have  been  seeking  for  an  interpreter — have  sent  to  Deerfield. 
Thus  I  am  in  concern.  Y"  Ld  be  pleased  to  direct  and  bless  me — Grant  I 
may  take  prudent  measures.  2.  We  attended  yc  meeting  before  ye  Sacra- 
ment, and  after  meeting  people  came  in  Great  numbers  to  see  my  Sister.  I 
am  fearful  that  it  may  not  be  agreable  to  be  gazed  upon.  I  am  sending 
hither  and  thither  to  my  children  and  friends,  and  I  pray  God  to  bring  them 
together  that  we  may  have  a  comfortable  and  profitable  meeting.  My  cares 
increase.  I  have  an  interpreter  come  from  Sunderland — sent  by  Sister  Wil- 
liams of  Deerfield — but  I  fear  he  does  not  understand  yc  Language  very 
well — but  hope  he  will  be  somewhat  serviceable. 

4.  Sabbath  and  Sacrament.  My  daughters  Eunice  and  Martha  are  now 
here  with  me  upon  ye  joy  full  sorrow/till  occasion  of  my  poor  Sister  Eunice 
who  is  now  with  me — also  her  Husband ;  Katherine  and  her  Husband,  and  a 
little  son  of  Mary.  I  beg  God  to  Direct  me  what  to  do  for  my  Sister  ;  be 
pleased  to  incline  and  dispose  her  and  her  Husband  to  come  into,  or  comply 
with,  such  measures,  as  may  have  a  proper  tendency,  to  promote  her  Spiritual 
and  Eternall  Good,  and  that  of  her  family  and  offspring ;  oh  that  ye  vail 
might  be  removed  from  her  eyes,  and  that  God  w(1  give  her  to  know  ye  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

6.  My  children,  John  and  his  wife,  Stephen,  with  our  interpreter,  Mr 
Dodge,  are  come  hither.  Our  company  and  cares  increase.  Yc  L"  Grant 
us  his  guidance.  7.  This  day  my  son  Nathan  and  wife,  Cap'  Grant  and 
wife  came  hither.  I  had  a  sad  discourse  with  my  Sister  and  her  Husband, 
and  find  they  are  not  at  all  disposed  to  come  and  settle  in  ye  Country.  I 
am  at  a  great  loss  to  know  what  course  to  take,  what  measures  to  go  into. 
I  do  pray  God  to  direct  me  and  show  me  my  duty.  About  night  Mr  Salter 
and  others  came  hither.  Our  numbers  increase.  My  daughter  Raynolds 
returned  Home  wearied  and  Fatigued.  July  8.  Cap1  Grant  and  Mr  Salter 
went  from  us.  At  night  my  son  Warham  came  hither,  John  and  his  wife 
went  home.  9.  Hot — and  we  are  fatigued  and  full  of  Company — at  night 
my  wife  poorly. 

10.  This  morning  my  poor  sister  and  company  left  us.  I  think  I  have 
used  ye  best  arguments  I  could  to  persuade  her  to  tarry  and  to  come  and 
dwell  with  us.  But  at  present  they  have  been  ineffectual.  I  must  leave 
ye  matter  with  God — this  I  desire  to  do.  N.B.  Y'  when  I  took  my  leave  o'f 
my  sister  and  her  daughter  in  the  parlour  they  both  shed  tears,  a'nd  seemed 
affected.  Oh,  that  God  wd  touch  their  hearts  and  encline  them  to  turn  to 
their  Friends,  and  to  embrace  ye  religion  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Would  that  some  master  painter  might  depict  this  touching  scene. 


230 


K.— THE  DAUPHIN  (?)  WILLIAMS. 

The  name  of  Eleazer  Williams  is  related  to  Longmeadow  not  only 
by  his  reputed  relationship  to  the  first  pastor,  Dr.  Stephen  Williams, 
the  brother  of  Eunice  Williams,  Eleazer's  grandmother,  but  also  by  his 
own  early  residence  in  the  village  for  several  years  while  he  was 
acquiring  an  education.  It  was  at  the  earnest  request  of  Deacon 
Nathaniel  Ely  of  Longmeadow  that  his  parents  were  induced  to  allow 
him  to  receive  this  education  thus,  and  the  liveliest  interest  was  felt  in 
Eleazer,  not  only  then  but  in  all  his  subsequent  life,  by  many  Long- 
meadow  citizens. 

The  following  hitherto  unpublished  letter  of  Pastor  Storrs  to  Rev. 
Dr.  Romeyn  of  New  York,  will  be  found  of  much  interest  in  this  con- 
nection, not  only  as  a  clear  statement  of  the  facts  relating  to  Eleazer's 
early  residence  here,  but  as  casting  a  strong  side  light  upon  subse- 
quent claims  in  his  behalf.  The  statement  of  Thomas  Williams, 
Eleazer's  father,  as  to  the  origin  of  Eleazer's  baptismal  name  is  of 
special  significance. 

LONGMEADOW,  April  6,  1811. 

Very  Dear  Sir: — Yours  of  the  Ist  inst  was  received  yesterday.  The  subject 
of  our  correspondence  has  long  been  to  me  one  of  importance  ; — that  it  has 
become  apparently  so  to  you,  and  to  other  New  England  friends,  is  highly 
gratifying. 

In  addition  to  those  cares  which  are  common  to  me,  I  have  on  hand  special 
concerns — a  circumstance  which  must  excuse  me  while  I  attempt  nothing 
more  at  this  time  than  a  plain  statement  of  a  few  facts  concerning  which 
you  enquire. 

Eleazer  Williams  came  to  this  town  in  January  of  the  year  1800;  the  May 
following  he  was  12  years  old — the  friends  here  have  never  known  any 
other  name  of  the  family  than  that  of  Williams.  Eleazer  was  baptised,  as 
is  supposed,  in  his  infancy  by  a  Catholic  priest.  His  father  informed  me 
that  he  named  him  after  his  great  uncle,  Eleazer  Williams,  first  minister 
of  Mansfield,  Connecticut.  [N.  B.  It  has  been  a  serious  question  with 
Eleazer  since  he  became  hopefully  pious  whether  he  ought  not  to  be 
rebaptised  by  a  Protestant.  Dr  Romeyn's  opinion  on  the  subject  would 
give  pleasure.] 

The  great  grandmother  of  this  lad,  Eunice  Williams,  though  she  lost  the 
knowledge  of  her  native  language,  never  lost  the  knowledge  of  her  native 
friends  and  country.  She  married  in  early  life  and  had  two  children,  viz  : 
Catharine  and  Mary,  who  lived  to  grow  up  and  were  married.  Mary,  the 
mother  of  Thomas  the  father  of  Eleazer,  on  the  bed  of  death,  gave  her  son 
to  her  sister  Catharine,  who  never  had  children. 

After  his  return  from  captivity  and  re-settlement  at  Deerfield  the  Rev"  J. 
Williams,  unto  the  day  of  his  death,  did  not  cease  to  labor  and  hope  for  the 


231 

redemption  of  his  daughter  Eunice,  but  he  never  witnessed  the  fruit  of  his 
exertions,  nor  an  answer  to  his  pra/ers  and  the  prayers  of  his  numerous  re- 
lations and  acquaintances.  His  son  Stephen,  the  first  minister  of  this  town 
and  my  immediate  predecessor,  was  so  happy,  after  many  fruitless  attempts, 
as  to  obtain  an  interview  with  this  sister  in  Albany,  New  York,  in  the  year 
1740.  She,  with  her  husband  and  children,  were  persuaded  to  accompany 
him  to  Longmeadow  and  spend  a  week  in  receiving  the  visits  and  largesses 
of  their  friends  in  New  England,  who  flocked  together  to  see  her.  She  and 
her  family  at  three  different  times  afterwards  came  down  from  Canada  to 
New  England  and  spent  one  whole  winter  in  this  quarter.  She  lived  till  the 
year  1786  or  7. 

The  grandson  Thomas,  the  father  of  Eleazer,  was  here  on  a  visit  in  the 
latter  part  of  1796  or  beginning  of  1797,  bringing  letters  from  her  and  from 
Gen1  Schuyler  of  Albany  ;  when  it  was  proposed  to  him  by  Dea"  Ely  to 
send  on  one  of  his  sons  to  receive  an  education  here.  The  proposal  seemed 
to  give  him  pleasure,  but  we  heard  nothing  from  him  until  some  time  in 
Decemr,  1799.  OQe  °f  our  neighbors  who  was  going  to  Montreal  took  on  a 
letter  from  Dean  Ely,  in  which  he  expressed  a  desire  to  Thomas  that  he 
would  immediately  forward  one  of  his  sons,  agreeable  to  the  proposal  which 
he  had  formerly  made  to  him. 

Accordingly,  at  the  close  of  the  month  following,  viz,  Jan>',  1800,  he  came 
with  two  of  his  sons,  Eleazer  and  John.  He  left  them  both,  and  they  were 
with  us  about  three  years,  attending  school  the  most  of  that  time,  learning 
to  speak  read  and  write  our  language  ;  in  all  which  branches  they  both  made 
good  proficiency,  especially  Eleazer.  It  was  an  object  with  us  to  have  them, 
however,  retain  their  Indian  language,  which  Eleazer  did.  In  the  winter  of 
1803  their  parents  both  came  to  visit  them,  and  informed  us  that  unless  they 
carried  one  or  both  of  them  home,  their  priest  (who  had  expressed  great 
displeasure  from  the  beginning  with  the  business)  would  excommunicate 
their  mother  from  the  church.  Taking  John,  they  were  persuaded  to  leave 
Eleazer  for  two  years  longer.  John  was  at  home  one  year,  perfectly  re- 
gained his  knowledge  of  the  Indian  language,  and  returned' to  us  again.  He 
remained  in  these  quarters  about  four  years  more,  learning  to  read  and 
write  and  perform  tolerably  well  most  kinds  of  farming  business.  He  then 
returned  to  his  father's,  where  he  now  is,  never  having  manifested  any  special 
regard  for  labor  ;  nor  any  abiding  sense  of  religious  things.  Eleazer  has 
made  but  two  visits  to  his  parents ;  the  last  a  few  weeks  since,  having  heard 
that  his  mother  was  near  to  death.  He  has  at  all  times  to  this  day  been  able 
to  speak  readily  his  native  language.  Canawaga  lies  across  the  river  about 
nine  miles  from  Montreal.  It  contains  about  300  families  of  Indians,  who 
are  a  part  of  the  Six  Nations. 

As  to  overtures  made  by  Episcopalians,  I  know  nothing  only  wha«t  I  had 
from  his  own  mouth.  He  told  me  and  several  others  in  this  quarter  that 
Dr  Moore  of  New  York,  or  some  of  his  church,  invited  him  to  place  him- 
self under  their  care  ;  for  they  would  do  anything  and  everything  for  him  in 
3° 


232 

completing  his  education  and  preparation  for  the  missionary  service.  Like- 
wise that  an  Episcopalian  clergyman  in  Montreal,  I  think  he  said  'twas  Dr 
Montain,  urged  him  to  join  their  communion,  urging  similar  and  many  other 
motives ;  this  was  at  a  time  when  we  were  difficulted  to  procure  money  for 
his  support. 

He  is  now  with  Rev'1  Mr  Hale,  of  Westhampton,  in  this  county.  When 
I  saw  him  in  Decemr  last,  he  told  me  that  he  had  read  six  books  of  the 
^Enead,  several  of  Cicero's  orations,  and  one  or  two  of  the  gospels  in  Greek  ; 
he  has  spent  much  time  upon  the  Latin,  as  he  has  found  that  the  most  diffi- 
cult language,  except  his  mother  tongue,  to  pronounce.  He  is  greatly  de- 
sirous to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew;  for  he  says  that 
when  he  presses  the  Friars  with  a  passage  of  Scripture  as  it  stands  in  the 
English  Bible,  they  tell  him  that  it  is  not  translated  right,  and  he  is  unable 
to  contradict  them. 

I  have  heard  it  objected  to  Eleazer  that  he  appeared  fickle;  but  who  would 
rationally  expect  that  an  Indian  would  at  once  become  steady.  I  have 
heard  it  said  that  he  was  assuming;  this  no  one  will  think  strange  who  con- 
siders how  much  he  has  been  flattered  and  caressed  by  many  of  the  first 
characters  in  New  England.  For  some  time  past  I  must  say  that  to  me  he 
appeared  more  stable,  more  meek,  and  in  every  respect  more  promising. 
His  whole  soul  seems  swallowed  up  in  the  idea  of  becoming  a  preacher  of 
Christ  among  his  own  countrymen.  In  a  letter  received  from  him  since  his 
last  return  to  Canawaga,  he  says  he  had  much  conversation  with  them,  and 
they  expressed  great  desire  that  he  should  come  and  be  their  religious 
teacher  immediately. 

My  dear  friend,  do  not  the  designs  of  Zion's  King,  who  is  also  Lord  of 
of  Providence,  in  permitting  the  awful  destruction  of  Deerfield,  and  in 
counteracting  all  subsequent  exertions  for  the  redemption  of  Eunice  Wil- 
liams from  Indian  captivity,  begin  to  develop  themselves. 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

R.  S.  STORRS. 

Whether  Eleazer  Williams  was  really  the  grandson  of  Eunice  Wil- 
liams, or  the  son  of  Marie  Antoinette,  will  probably  always  remain  an 
open  question — at  least  for  persons  of  large  credulity.  That  he  was 
strikingly  European,  and  even  Bourbon,  in  physiognomy  is  unquestion- 
able ;  the  one  fact  which  gives  some  coloring  of  plausibility  to  the 
whole  tissue  of  newspaper  and  oral  gossip  constituting  the  staple  of 
Mr.  Hanson's  book  entitled  "The  Lost  Prince." 

Most  of  this  gossip  carries  upon  its  face  the  evidence  of  its  improb- 
ability, and  scarcely  deserves  any  attempt  at  historical  analysis.  Mr. 
Williams's  own  statements  and  reminiscences  in  its  corroboration  de- 
pend for  their  value  entirely  upon  the  degree  to  which  he  was,  per- 
haps unconsciously,  influenced  by  his  personal  interest  in  the  case.  No 
law  of  mental  action  is  more  imperative  than  that  desire  long  indulged 


233 

comes  greatly  to  influence  every  faculty  of  the  mind  ;  and  to  this  law 
Mr.  Williams  was  probably  rio  exception.  Nothing  can  be  more  in- 
correct than  the  impression  which  Mr.  Hanson  would  give,  that  Mr. 
Williams  was  a  man  of  such  guileless  simplicity  and  of  such  compar- 
ative indifference  to  the  personal  bearings  of  the  case  as  to  be  in  no 
danger  of  accepting  his  reminiscences  from  his  imagination  instead 
of  his  memory.  He  was,  on  the  contrary,  very  keenly  alive  to  his  own 
possible  historical  importance,  and  brooded  upon  it  so  long  and  in- 
tensely as  to  become  at  last  apparently  quite  liable  to  mistake  the  un- 
conscious cerebrations  of  his  sleeping  hours  for  actual  reminiscences. 
Such  wildly  improbable  stories  as  the  alleged  De  Joinville  interview 
in  the  cabin  of  a  Western  steamboat,  with  solemn  deeds  of  abdica- 
tion soliciting  the  poor  missionary's  signature,  and  very  much  else  of 
his  evidence  both  subjective  and  objective — can  hardly  be  explained 
except  upon  this  supposition. 

•  The  writer  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Williams — his  supposed 
kinsman  and  frequent  guest — and  has  often  discussed  the  whole  sub- 
ject with  him  ;  receiving  from  him  more  than  once  the  playful  promise 
of  a  French  premiership  whenever  Mr.  Williams  should  attain  his 
royal  rights.  It  was  always  interesting  to  listen  to  the  story,  literally 
ever  new  as  he  rehearsed  it  in  these  successive  interviews  with  ever 
increasing  detail  of  circumstance  and  dramatic  illustration  from  his 
constantly  growing  collection  of  royal  relics — a  robe  of  Marie  Antoin- 
ette, a  Bourbon  snuff-box,  etc.,  etc.  But  every  such  rehearsal  only  left 
upon  my  mind  a  still  stronger  impression  that  I  was  merely  listening  to 
the  excursions  of  a  lively  imagination*  into  the  realms  of  pleasant 
possibilities  under  the  stimulus  of  a  strong  self-interest,  rather  than  to 
the  clear  deliverances  of  memory,  or  the  sober  deductions  of  reason. 

Possibly  Mr.  Williams  did  come  at  last  to  believe  that  where  there 
were  so  many  assertions  and  affidavits  there  must  be  some  basis  of 
fact;  and  that  it  was  his  own  duty  "to  put  himself" — like  a  presiden- 
tial candidate — "  into  the  hands  of  his  friends  ;  "  not  only  doing  noth- 
ing to  contradict  their  claims  in  his  behalf,  but  even  rendering  them 
the  support  of  a  grateful  and  quickened  memory. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  memory  which  could 
possibly  accept  the  stupendous  dream  of  the  De  Joinville  cabin  inter- 
view as  a  veritable  fact,  is  fatally  discredited  throughout.  And 
equally  certain  that  no  really  reliable  evidence,  subjective  or  objective, 
has  been  yet  adduced  to  connect  Eleazer  Williams  with  the  throne  of 
France ;  or  to  disconnect  him  from  a  legitimate  Longmeadow  rela- 
tionship as  the  grandson  of  Eunice  Williams. 


234 


L.— THE  DAVENPORT  WILLIAMS  COMMUNION  CUP. 

The  destruction  by  fire  in  1846  of  the  old  Williams  parsonage  in 
Longmeadow  was  undoubtedly  a  very  severe  loss  to  antiquarian  re- 
search in  the  Connecticut  valley.  It  was  occupied  at  that  time  by  a 
bachelor  grandson  of  Dr.  Williams,  who  kept  its  treasures  of  manu- 
script and  of  printed  Americana  jealously  locked  up  in  the  old  attic, 
scarcely  permitting  any  one  access  to  them  after  the  abuse  of  his  for- 
mer confidence  by  a  noted  antiquarian  who  had,  as  he  believed,  sur- 
reptitiously conveyed  some  of  them  away.  The  fire  took  upon  the 
roof  from  the  cinders  of  the  old  Burnham  place  upon  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street,  and  but  little  comparatively  could  be  saved  from 
such  exposed  and  combustible  material.  Among  rescued  matter,  how- 
ever, were  most  fortunately  the  ten  manuscript  volumes  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liams' diary  covering  the  entire  period  of  his  ministry,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  missing  volume,  and  a  small  collection  of  original  letters 
and  other  manuscript,  all  now  in  the  possession  of  the  writer.  Of 
special  interest  among  them  is  the  following  original  document 
showing  the  seed-thought  of  one  of  the  most  noted  of  early  American 
publications,  "  The  Redeemed  Captive  Returning  to  Zion  "  : 
Memdm  for  the  Revd  Mr  Sam1  Miles 

The  Lott  of  Bills  of  Exchange  Payable  to  Yourfelf  I  defire  maybe  difpofed  of  by 
advice  of  the  Revds  of  the  Clergy  of  this  town  and  Mr  John  Williams  of  Deerfield 
for  the  Procuring  an  ace1  about  the  Englifh  Captivity  of  the  late  Wars  in  Canada; 
how  they  were  ufed  there  in  general,  but  in  particular  what  Ways  and  Means  they 
ufed  to  make  them  become  Roman  .Catholics  and  Indians;  and  towards  the  printing 
fome  fmall  tract  concerning  a  Difference  of  our  Religion  againft  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics and  Indians,  to  be  conveyed  to  them  privately  in  Canada  &c ;  and  in  doing  of 
thefe  things  you  will  all  oblidge  him  who  is 

Yor  moft  affectionate  friend 

and  faithful  humble  ferv* 

Boston  Decr  215  1714.  FFR.  NICHOLSON. 

Among  other  more  bulky  articles  in  lower  rooms,  and  hence  more 
easily  rescued,  were  the  old  oak  writing  table  and  the  inkstand  of  Dr. 
Williams  now  in  the  church  pastors'  room,  two  very  old  bureau  and 
buffet  pieces  of  furniture  whose  painted  ornamentation  includes  the 
arabesque  initials  of  Abigail  Davenport,  an  extremely  old  and  odd 
pistol  which  unbroken  tradition  refers  to  the  former  ownership  of 
John  Williams  of  Deerfield,  and,  most  curious  of  all,  a  long,  slender 
wooden  tube,  about  six  feet  in  length  and  an  inch  in  diameter,  octa- 
gonal at  one  end  and  round  at  the  other  and  fitted  at  either  end  for 


235 

ear  and  mouth  pieces  now,  however,  missing,  which  has  for  genera- 
tions been  known  as  the  "  Courting  Stick."  Whether  it  was  really 
used  for  that  purpose,  as  tradition  has  it,  by  young  people  sitting  in 
the  usual  place  for  young  people,  upon  opposite  sides  of  the  old-fash- 
ioned fireplace,  to  carry  on  their  whispered  love-making  unheard  by 
their  elders  more  honorably  located  in  front  of  the  blaze,  or  whether 
it  was  simply  used,  as  experiment  now  easily  demonstrates  it  might 
have  been,  as  a  very  effective  ear  tube  for  good  old  Dr.  Williams,  it  is 
in  either  case  a  curiously  unique  relic  of  the  olden  time. 

But  by  far  the  most  interesting  and  important  of  these  material 
relics  of  the  old  parsonage,  is  the  Davenport  Williams  silver  commun- 
ion cup.  now  in  the  possession  of  the  first  church  in  Longmeadow,  of 
which  some  more  particular  account  should  be  here  given. 

The  inventory  of  the  estate  of  Rev.  John  Davenport  of  New 
Haven,  made  in  1670,  mentions,  among  other  items,  silver  plate  to 
the  value  of  .£50.  The  will  of  Abigail  Davenport,  widow  of  his  son 
John  Davenport  of  New  Haven,  probated  in  1718,  the  very  year  of 
the  marriage  of  her  granddaughter  Abigail  to  Dr.  Williams,  bequeaths 
"  unto  the  Church  of  New-haven  my  Silver  caudle  cup,  desiring  a  cup 
to  be  made  thereof  for  the  service  of  that  Church,  as  Likely  as  y*  will 
afford  for  the  Vessel  and  its  making,  out  of  my  love  and  affection  to 
the  house  of  God."  The  cup  thus  made  is  still  in  Communion  use 
by  the  First  Church  of  New  Haven. 

The  will  of  Rev.  John  Davenport  of  Stamford,  a  signed  copy  of 
which  is  in  the  writer's  possession,  in  a  codicil  (which  is  not  given  with 
the  printed  document  in  the  Davenport  Genealogy)  bequeaths  to  each 
of  his  minor  children  "  a  silver  cup  market  at  ye  bottom  outwardly." 

[From  the  same  codicil  also  are  the  following  curious  provisions: 
"  Alfo,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  Loving  Wife  Elizabeth  befides  ye  thirds  of  my 
perfonal  Eftate  wch  I  expecl:  (he  take  in  other  parts  of  my  Eftate  than  what  I  now 
Name  I  fay  I  give  my  fd  Wife  Elizabeth  my  two  negroes  to  fay  Dick  and  Su  who 
were  both  hers  before  my  marrying  her  to  be  to  her  ye  fd  Elizabeth  all  ye  term  of  her 
being  my  widow,  and  after  that  that  both  be  to  my  fd  Children.  Alfo  I  abfolutely 
give  to  her  my  fd  Wife  Elizabeth  to  her  Affigns  my  Mulatto  boy  Vannall  who  there- 
fore my  mind  is  that  he  fd  Vannall  be  not  put  in  my  Inventory;  but  if  fd  Su  fhall 
have  any  more  child  or  Children  while  under  y9  Improvement  of  my  f'1  Wife  Eliza- 
beth my  mind  is  y*  fuch  child  or  children  every  of  them  continue  with  fd  Su  under 
ye  care  of  my  fd  Wife  Elizabeth,  but  then  to  be  accounted  my  Eftate  and  on  ye  ex- 
piration of  fd  term  of  her  being  my  widow  then  to  belong  to  my  f  Children  John, 
Deodate,  Abraham,  James,  Abigail,  Martha,  Sarah,  Elizabeth."] 


236 

The  married  children  had  previously  received  a  similar  cup  also 
"markt  at  ye  bottom  outwardly,"  and  that  of  Abigail,  brought  by  her 
to  Longmeadow,  was  in  family  use  by  old  Dr.  Williams  until  his  death, 
as  his  own  personal  drinking  cup.  The  little  recess  above  the  fire- 
place, in  which  it  stood  with  the  wine-toast  liquid  which  constituted 
his  occasional  refreshment,  is  well  remembered  by  his  great-grand- 
daughter Miss  Eunice  C.  Storrs,  still  living  in  Longmeadow.  This 
cup,  "markt  outwardly  at  ye  bottom,"  with  the  initials  "  A.  D." — Abi- 
gail Davenport — and  upon  the  side  with  those  of  John  Davenport,  her 
great-grandfather — J.  D. — was  at  the  death  of  Dr.  Williams  willed  by 
him  to  his  children,  and  coming  ultimately  into  the  possession  of  his 
granddaughter,  the  second  wife  of  Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  was  by  her  pre- 
sented to  the  church  in  Longmeadow  as  a  Communion  cup.  The  his- 
tory of  the  cup  from  about  the  time  of  Cromwell  to  the  present  time 
seems  thus  reasonably  established.  It  is  of  hammered  silver — Eng- 
lish make — and  was  almost  certainly  among  the  plate  brought  by  John 
Davenport  of  New  Haven  from  England  in  1639 — an<^  probably  consid- 
erably antedates  any  similar  Communion  cup  in  this  section  except 
that  of  the  New  Haven  Church,  of  which  it  is  nearly  the  fac  simile, 
and  which  was  probably,  with  it,  a  part  of  a  social  drinking  set  belong- 
ing to  Rev.  John  Davenport.  The  accompanying  engraving  is  an 
accurate  representation  of  the  Longmeadow  cup  : 


THE  DAVENPORT-WILLIAMS  SILVER  COMMUNION  CUP. 
PlBST  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST  IK  LONGMEADOW.— 1718. 


237 

M.— RELIGIOUS  ASPECTS  AND  EVENTS. 

The  Precinct  of  Longmeadow  was  equivalent,  as  to  its  religious 
aspect  and  intent,  to  what  is  now  known  as  the  Parish  or  Religious 
Society.  Its  germinant  principle  and  immediate  occasion  was  the  fact 
that  a  sufficierit  number  of  families — or  about  forty — had  gathered,  and 
were  competent  to  the  independent  support  of  the  gospel  ministry. 
On  this  ground  their  petition  was  heard  by  the  "  Great  and  General 
Court"  and  they  were  incorporated  as  a  Precinct  February  17,  1713. 

When,  three  years  after,  the  spiritual  body  of  the  church,  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  prudential  body  of  the  Precinct,  was  organized,  it  was 
under  no  denominational  name.  Its  appellation  was  "  The  Church  of 
Christ  in  Longmeadow."  The  original  tendency  was  towards  a  synod- 
ical  government.  At  the  second  church  meeting,  February  19,  1716, 
it  was  voted 

"  Y*  we  acknowledge  power  in  Ecclefiafticall  Councills  and  do  judge  it  our  duty 
(o  be  fubjecT:  to  a  Councill  of  ye  Churches  (if  we  in  a  difficulty  fhould  call  them)  till 
fome  Superiour  Councill  be  fet  up  in  ye  Province  unto  which  we  may  appeal." 

But  this  High-church  Congregationalism  was  gradually  modified 
until  it  finally  disappeared,  as  appears  from  the  following  votes  : 

Oct.  22.  1770.  The  church  voted  their  full  concurrence  with  ye  6th  faction  of  the 
13th  Chapter  of  ye  Cambridge  Platform.  Feb.  14.  1775.  Y6  church  met  to  recon- 
fider  this  vote,  and  the  meeting  was  adjourned  to  ye  13th  of  March. 

March  13.  Ye  church  met  and  paffed  the  following  vote — viz  :  As  to  the  exer- 
cife  of  Government  and  difcipline  in  the  church,  we  agree  to  take  y"  Word  of  God, 
for  our  Guide,  which  is  the  only  rule,  our  Great  Lord  and  Mafter,  has  beftowed  for  the 
regulation  of  our  Conducl  in  that  affair ;  being  willing  to  receive  light  and  help 
from  any  forms  of  humane  compofure  agreeable  thereto ;  and  do  in  fpeciall  Adopt 
the  Cambridge  Platform,  as  to  the  Subftance  of  it,  and  as  far  as  agreeable  to 
Scripture. 

The  last  clause  is  a  gentle  relinquishment  of  the  Cambridge  Plat- 
form and  the  precursor  of  its  vanishing  away. 

The  Longmeadow  church  set  out  under  the  "  Half-way  Covenant ;  " 
an  insidious,  and,  as  it  proved  in  the  after  history  of  this-  and  other 
New  England  churches,  a  dangerous  error.  Cotton  Mather,  one  of 
Stephen  Williams's  ancestors,  had  lamented  the  exclusion  of  many  of 
the  children  of  his  day  from  baptism,  and  from  the  "  Ecclesiastical 
Inspection"  which  should  accompany  baptism.  The  Half-way  Cove- 
nant permitted  those  who  had  themselves  been  baptized  in  infancy  to 
renew  their  "  Baptismal  Covenant,"  although  not  ready  "  to  come  up 
to  that  experimental  account  of  their  own  regeneration,  which  would 
sufficiently  embolden  their  access  to  the  other  Sacrament."  Solomon 
Stoddard  of  Northampton,  who  gave  the  charge  to  Stephen  Williams 


238 

at  his  ordination,  made  the  tendency  of  the  Half-way  Covenant  looser 
still,  by  holding  that  "  the  Lord's  Supper  is  instituted  to  be  a  means  of 
Regeneration." 

During  the  first  year  of  the  church  thirty-seven  were  admitted  to 
"  our  fellowship  "  or  full  communion,  and  forty  "owned  y°  covenant." 
The  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Covenant  were  the  same  for  all. 

CONFESSION  OF  FAITH. 

You  believe  that  there  is  one  only  liveing  and  true  God ;  ye  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghofl ;  that  God  entered  into  a  covenant  of  works,  with  man  on  condition  of  perfect 
obedience ;  that  our  firft  Father  by  Eating  the  forbidden  fruit,  caft  himfelf,  and  all 
his  pofterity,  into  a  date  of  Sin  and  mifery  ;  that  God  out  of  his  mere  mercy,  Sent 
his  only  begotten  Son,  who  in  our  nature  hath  borne  the  curfe,  and  anfwered  ye  law 
for  us :  that  all  who  believe  on  him,  are  juftifyed.  and  will  be  kept  by  the  power  of 
God,  through  Faith  unto  Salvation.  You  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Teftament  are  the  word  of  God.  You  believe  that  at  the  Laft  Day,  Jefus 
Chrift  will  defcend  from  Heaven,  and  condemn  all  ungodly  men  to  Everlafting  Fire 
with  ye  devill  and  His  Angells ;  and  invite  his  Saints  to  ye  poffeffion  of  the  King- 
dom prepared  for  them,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

THE  COVENANT. 

You  do  here  take  hold  of  the  Covenant  of  the  Lord,  and  defire  to  Give  up  your- 
felf  to  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghoft,  and  you  do  promife  to  Submit  your- 
felf,  to  the  Government  of  Chrift  in  this  Church,  and  that  you  by  God's  grace  will 
walk  in  Brotherly  Love,  and  Seek  the  peace  of  this  church,  So  long  as  God  (hall 
continue  you  here. 

RESPONSE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

We  promife  (by  God's  Grace)  to  walk  toward  you  in  Brotherly  Love,  and  to 
watch  over  you,  for  the  Good  of  your  Soul,  and  make  you  partaker  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  Chrift  among  us,  that  belong  to  thofe  in  your  ftation. 

Thofe  yl  own  the  Covenant  and  affent  to  the  Confeffion  of  Faith  as  above  do  then 
acknowledge — That  by  Baptifm  I  have  been  dedicated  to  God,  a  favor  I  thankfully 
acknowledge,  and  do  now  Subject  myfelf  to  the  Government  of  Chrift  in  his  church, 
and  to  the  regular  adminiftration  of  it  in  this  church,  while  his  providence  (hall 
continue  me  here,  promiffing  allfo  to  take  pains  to  obtain  yet  further  preparation  of 
ye  Sanctuary,  yl  may  Embolden  me  to  wait  upon  God  in  all  his  ordinances. 

It  was  voted  by  the  church  Feb  19.  1717  That  if  any  Baptized  perfon  living  among 
us,  mould  fall  into  any  Scandalous  tranfgreffion,  though  he  hath  not  actually  owned 
ye  covenant,  yet  we  will  proceed  with  him  as  if  he  had  owned  ye  covenant,  and  when 
he  makes  fatiffaction,  he  (hall  explicitely  own  ye  covenant. 

There  is  no  certain  evidence  that  Stephen  Williams  adopted  Solomon 
Stoddard's  extreme  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  means  of  regeneration  ; 
but  evidence  enough  that  the  half-way  covenant  was  unhappy,  as  time  went 
on,  in  its  devitalizing  and  unspiritual  effect.  Happy  for  all  concerned  when 
the  "  Great  Awakening  "  of  1740  rooted  it  out. 

Previous  to  that  remarkable  event  there  were  no  "  revivals,"  in  the  mod- 
ern sense  of  that  term,  but  there  were  "reformations."  They  were  revivals 
in  the  very  genuine  and  strenuous  purpose  and  endeavor  to  renew  covenant 
obligations,  and  translate  them  from  the  letter  into  spirit  and  life. 


239 

"  A  Covenant  for  Reformation,"  which  is  subjoined,  well  illustrates  the 
spiritual  condition  and  necessities  of  the  time.  Stephen  Williams  had  long 
been  mourning  with  great  heaviness  of  spirit  over  the  decay  of  vital  reli- 
gion. He  had  been  prominent  among  his  ministerial  brethren  in  urging  a 
"  reformation."  At  a  conference  of  the  churches  in  Chicopee  he  had  ex- 
horted as  follows.  The  question  before  them  was  :  "  What  methods  are 
proper  for  us  to  take  in  order  to  y  suppression  of  vice  and  revivall  of  Reli- 
gion ?"  First,  he  opens  the  "  Facts."  Vices  abound — visible  and  manifest 
evills  among  us — decay  of  y  power  of  godliness — divine  institutions  neg- 
lected by  many — some  unbaptized — great  multitudes  never  join  themselves 
the  churches  of  Christ — low  esteem  of  ordinances — strifes  and  contentions 
— extravagant  dress  beyond  our  estates  and  degree — family  gov'  and  instruc- 
tion neglected — how  many  children  ignorant  of  the  first  rudiments  of  reli- 
gion and  without  civility — yea,  and  without  instruction  in  reading  and  writ- 
ing—intemperance, much  drunkenesse,  tavern  haunting  and  cheating  one 
another  ;  breaches  of  the  7'''  command'  and  not  to  insist  on  the  abounding 
of  adultery,  how  amazing  does  yc  sin  of  fornication  abound,  sinful  company 
keeping,  and  wanton  managements  which  possibly  may  be  meant  by  the 
apostle  when  he  speaks  in  Romans  13,  13  of  chambering  and  wantonness. 

The  faithful  pastor  dep'ores  the  general  unconcern  concerning  a  reforma- 
tion— "  Nay,  don't  many  oppose  it,  and  have  not  sinners  many  advocates  ?  " 
He  then  exhorts  to  combined  action — "  That  we  bear  our  testimony 
against  ye  Sins  we  are  sensible  do  prevail  among  us.  I  mean  a  particular 
testimony  by  particular  and  set  discourses,  y'  we  be  frequent,  full,  and  plain 
in  our  cautions,  warnings  and  reproofs.  See  Ezek.  3,  17,  18,  &c,  Isa.  68,  I. 
The  direction  is  to  shew  them  their  sins.  And  here  I  would  ask  whether  it 
may  not  be  expedient  and  proper  for  us  as  ministers  to  endeavour  to  engage 
some  of  our  civil  rulers  to  endeavor  to  promote  a  reformation  by  putting  ye 
laws  in  execution  and  to  directly  encourage  it."  See  Ezra  10.  2.  34. 

He  then  urges  an  explicit  renewal  of  covenant  in  which  "  ye  sins  of  y 
times  should  be  engaged  with,  and  reformation  of  ourselves  (in  the  name 
and  help  of  Christ)  be  promised  before  ye  Lord."  Ezra  10.  Nehemiah  5.  10. 

The  more  frequent  and  instructive  catechising  of  youth  is  also  urged.  "  I 
am  persuaded  that  there  is  a  want  of  knowledge  among  us  even  such  knowl- 
edge without  which  the  heart  can't  be  good— many  are  destroyed  for  lack  of 
knowledge."  He  suggests  a  good  and  popular  exposition  of  the  Assembly's 
Catechism.  He  urges  more  systematic  and  thorough  pastoral  visitation,  the 
stirring  up  the  people  to  more  earnest  and  united  prayer,  greater  minis- 
terial industry  and  diligence,  and  especially  in  "  inculcating  upon  our  people 
those  things  especially  wherein  vital  piety  doth  consist,  earnestly  endeavor- 
ing to  further  y  saving  conversion  to  God,  ye  growth  and  flourishing  in  holi- 
ness, and  that  ye  people  may  be  well  principled  against  ye  vices  of  the  age. 
And  let  us  my  brethren,  be  carefull  that  we  be  examples  to  our  flocks,  let 
us  by  our  own  walk  hold  forth  and  represent  ye  graces  of  our  Lord,  and  that 
the  holiness  of  His  doctrine  be  without  reproach." 
31 


240 

As  the  appointed  day  for  owning  the  Covenant  of  Reformation  that  he 
proposes  for  his  own  people  draws  nigh,  we  perceive  the  travail  of  his  soul. 
"  August  19.  1728.  I  pray  God  to  give  me  prudence  and  wisdom  to  man- 
age myself  in  this  affair  on  foot  about  renewing  ye  Covenant.  18.  Sabbath. 
This  day  I  urged  with  all  ye  solemnity  I  could  ye  duty  of  appearing  on  ye 
Lord's  side  as  called  thereto  ;  y"  Lord  grant  y'  (what  is  agreable  to  his  will) 
has  been  offered  may  be  well  accepted  and  well  improved  ;  that  it  may  not 
be  despised  and  rejected  to  ye  hurt  and  damage  of  this  people.  19.  I  per- 
ceive y'  some  are  pretty  much  ruffled  at  ye  notion  for  a  reformation,  and  ob- 
ject and  reproach  me  particularly  as  accounting  me  a  forward  instrument  in 
yc  cause.  What  an  honour  is  done  me  y'  I  should  be  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  shame  for  Christ's  name.  I  am  more  fully  convinced  y1  y'  thing  is 
agreeable  to  ye  mind  and  will  of  God,  because  of  y'  opposition  y'  it  meets 
withall  from  some  men  as  oppose  it.  There  are  caballings  and  confederat- 
ings  agl  it.  God  grant  y1  we  may  rather  be  animated  to  promote'it.  I  pray 
God  to  give  me  zeal  and  prudence.  Ye  Lord  be  pleased  to  forgive  those 
y'  reproach  and  vituperate  it.  21.  I  find  many  objections  against  y"  method 
proposed  to  bring  about  a  reformation.  I  pray  God  to  give  me  wisdom  and 
prudence,  as  well  as  a  becoming  zeal  to  manage  as  I  ought  in  this  affair. 

22.  This  day  was  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  in  this  place, 
and  the  covenant  for  reformation  was  publicly  consented  to  by  ye  greater 
part  of  ye  communicants  and  those  y'  had  recognized  yr  Baptismall  Bonds. 
Ye  Lord  graciously  be  pleased  to  own  and  accept  of  his  people,  and  keep  it 
allways  in  y"  thefts  of  yc  hearts.  23.  I  am  tired  and  spent  with  yesterday's 
Service,  but  it  was  in  my  Lord's  Service  and  it  matters  not,  if  I  had  been 
much  more  tired  and  spent,  for  I  desire  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  Him." 

As  appears  by  the  Church  Records,  the  covenant  was  assented  to  "  by 
standing  up  when  it  was  read  and  by  lifting  up  the  right  hand  thereunto  as 
a  token  of  it — both  males  and  females."  Those  of  the  communicants  that 
did  not  consent  were  Capt.  George  Colton,  John  Cooley,  Samuel  Miers,  and 
Matthew  Cooley.  Of  those  that  had  recognized  their  baptism  and  did  not 
consent  were  Samuel  Stebbins,  Sr.,  William  Colton,  William  Cooley,  and 

John  Hodge. 

A  COVENANT  for  REFORMATION. 
AiTented  to  in  Long-Meadow,  in  Springfield,  Auguil  22"''  1728. 

fHE  LORD  our  GOD,  who  is  Holy  in  all  His  Ways,  and  Righteous  in  all  His 
Works,  has  lately  by  many  Rebukes  of  His  Providence,  fhown  His  clifpleaf- 
ure  againft  us  in  this  Land;  Particularly  by  a  diftreffing  War  ;  and  by  very 
great  and  fore  ficknefs,  efpecially  in  fome  Places;  and  by  awful  and  diftreffing  Storms 
and  Tempefts ;  and  by  an  amazing  EARTHQUAKE  in  the  Year  part;  whereby 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  Land  have  been  greatly  terrifyed;  and  very  lately  by  a  very 
fore  and  diftreffing  Drought,  whereby  the  Fruits  of  the  Earth  with  us,  have  withered 
and  languifhed,  and  were  in  danger  of  being  wholly  loft ;  whereby  GOD  is  calling 
upon  us,  to  acknowledge  and  confefs  our  Sins ;  which  are  the  procuring  Caufes  of 
His  Judgments.  'Tis  true,  and  ought  with  all  thankfulnefs  to  be  acknowledged, 
that  GOD  has  not  proceeded  to  Extremity  with  us,  but  in  Wrath  has  remembered 


241 

Mercy,  has  beftowed  very  many  Favours  upon  us ;  gives  us  Health  in  a  confidera- 
ble  meafure  ;  and  favours  us  with  Peace  at  prefent,  and  considerable  Plenty ;  gives 
us  a  fpace  to  repent,  and  calls  upon  us,  to  amend  our  ways  and  doings,  and  obey  his 
voice.  Jer  26 :  13.  We  defire  to  be  in  the  ufe  of  all  proper  Means  to  promote  a  Refor- 
mation ;  and  particularly  we  defire  to  promife  carefully  to  endeavour  to  reform  thofe 
GOD  provoking  Evils,  that  prevail  among  us ;  and  confciencioufly  to  difcharge  thofe 
Duties,  that  are  wickedly  neglecled.  We  would  therefore  (relying  upon  GOD's  Grace 
to  affift  us)  folemnlygive  ourfelves  to  GOD  the  FATHER,  GOD  the  SON,  and 
GOD  the  HOLY  GHOST;  Looking  for  Help,  and  Acceptance  through  CHRIST 
alone;  who  is  the  Mediator,  between  GOD  and  Man;  Efpecially,  for  Grace  to  do 
the  Duties,  we  now  particularly  promife  to  Endeavour  confciencioufly  to  difcharge, 
Which  are  as  followeth,  viz.  We  promife, 

I.  THAT  we  will  carefully,  and  religioufly  keep  up  the  Worfhip  of  GOD  in  our 
Families. 

II.  THAT  we  will  Endeavour  to  carry  it  becomingly,  and  obediently  to  thofe 
the  LORD  has  fet  over  us  in  Civil  and  Sacred  Authority; and  becomingly  to  Equals 
and  Inferiors. 

III.  THAT  we  will  carefully  Endeavour  to  behave  Our  felves  Soberly,  will  not 
unneceffarily  frequent  Taverns,  or  Drinking  Houfes,  or  tarry  long  in  them  ;  we  will 
endeavour  to  avoid  the  very  appearance  of  the  Evil  of  exceffive  Drinking. 

IV.  WE  will  deal  juftly  with  all  Men,  abftain  from  Violence,  Fraud,  and  Op- 
preffion,  carefully  pay  our  honeft  Debts ;  or   if  difenabled  by  the    Providence   of 
GOD,  we  will  take  due  care,  to  inform  our  creditors  of  it,  and  defire  their  allowance 
and  forbearance  awhile. 

V.  WE  will  endeavour  to  behave  our  felves  Chaitly,  and  Modeftly,  avoid  im- 
modeft  Carriage,  forbearing  Wanton  Songs,  lafcivious  Difcourfes  &c ;  and  will  en- 
deavour to  poflefs  our  Bodies  in  fanclification  and  Honour.     And  particularly  do  we 
declare  our  Abhorrance  of  that  notion   advancd  by  fome  of  late,  viz.  that  it  is  no 
breach  of  the  Seventh  Commandment  for  Perfons  that  have  made  private  Promifes, 
to   one   another,  to   have  carnal  knowledge  of  one  another,  altho'   not  joined  in 
marriage. 

VI.  WE  will  watch  againft  unpeaceable  Behaviour,  avoid  ungoverned  Paflion, 
and  Speaches,  profane  Murmurings  &c. 

VII.  WE  will  not  forget  to  Communicate  to  the  Needy,  as  our  Duty  is.     Heb. 
13  :  16;  Deut  15:  7-12. 

VIII.  WE  will  be  faithful  to  our  Promifes,  and  careful  of  one  another's  good 
Name. 

IX.  WE  will  take  particular  Care  of  our  Families,  to  give  Children  good  Edu- 
cation, and  keep  our  Families  under  Government ;  will  take  Care  that  our  Children, 
and  Servents,  and  thofe  under  our  Care,  do  duly  attend  the  Worfhip  of  GOD,  in 
the  Family,  and  in  Publick ;  and  particularly  that  they  attend  on  the  Publick  Cate- 
chifing,  and  we  will  take  Special  Care  that  they  be  not  out  unfeafonably  at  Night. 

X.  WE  will  not  allow,  nor  wittingly  entertain,  Company  in  our  Houfes  unfea- 
fonably, nor  any  fuch  debauch'1  Company  in  our  Houfes  at  any  time;  leaft  we  bring 
guilt  on  Our  felves. 

XI.  WE  will  carefully  endeavour  to  keep  holy  GOD's  holy  Sabbaths.     *• 

XII.  WE  promife  faithfully  to  watch  over  one  another  and  chearfully,  and  wil- 
lingly to  give  and  receive  Chriftian  reproof  as  there  may  be  occafion. 


242 

This  covenant  was  printed  as  an  old-fashioned  Broadside,  with  the  fol- 
lowing address  of  the  pastor  appended,  and  distributed  through  the  parish  : 
DEARLY  BELOVED — 

HAT  you  have  (on  the  Day  of  Humiliation  appointed  for  that  purpofe,  and 
to  numDle  our  felves  before  the  LORD,  for  our  Breaches  of  Covenant) 
Publickly  and  Solemnly  affented  to,  is  now  by  the  way  of  the  Prefs  put 
into  your  Hands ;  and  that  to  help  your  Memories,  and  to  affift  you  in  the  great 
Duty  of  Self- Examination ;  and  'tis  hoped  that  by  a  particular  Survey  of  the  feveral 
Heads  of  Duty,  a  due  Humiliation  for  defects  may  be  promoted ;  and  that  by  fre- 
quently perufing  thefe  articles,  Covenant  faithfulnefs  may  be  furthered.  The  good 
LORD  be  pleafed  to  keep  thefe  things  forever,  in  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  your  hearts ;  and  prepare  all  our  hearts  unto  him  ;  and  give  to  every  one  of  us  a 
perfect  heart,  to  keep  his  Commandments,  his  teftimonies,  and  his  ftatutes,  and  to 
do  all  thefe  things. 

THE  GREAT  AWAKENING. 

While  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  things  which  existed  as  the 
background  of  this  Covenant  of  Reformation  belongs  to  the  record  of  hon- 
est history,  it  should  be  said  in  extenuation  that  it  pertained  to  a  period 
which  Jonathan  Edwards  in  his  narrative  of  the  "  Great  Awakening  "  that 
soon  followed — 1734-1744 — describes  as  "a  time  of  extraordinary dulness 
in  religion."  It  should  also  be  said  that  the  conflict  of  the  churches  and 
ministers  of  that  day  with  flagrant  immorality  was  open  and  manly  ;  church 
discipline  was  not  neglected  ;  there  were  no  intentional  and  final  betrayals 
under  promises  of  marriage  ;  confessions,  both  explicit  and  public,  were  de- 
manded and  secured ;  and  not  only  confessions,  but  such  amendments  as 
were  meet  for  repentance.  The  sacred  obligations  of  marriage  were  main- 
tained by  a  public  sentiment  that  held  its  own,  and  was  greatly  strengthened 
and  purified  when  the  "  Great  Awakening"  came. 

Drs.  Isaac  Watts  and  John  Guyse  in  their  preface  to  Jonathan  Edwards' 
"  Narrative  "  of  this  "  Surprizing  Work  of  God,"  published  in  London  in 
!737i  signalize  it  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  spiritual  events  since  the 
first  ages  of  Christianity.  "  There  is  a  spot  of  Ground,  wherein  there  are 
twelve  or  fourteen  Towns  and  Villages  near  the  banks  of  the  River  of  Con- 
necticut within  the  compass  of  30  miles,  wherein  it  pleased  God  two  years 
ago  to  display  his  free  and  sovereign  grace  in  the  Conversion  of  a  great 
multitude  of  souls  in  a  short  space  of  time,  turning  them  from  a  formal,  cold 
and  Careless  Profession  of  Christianity  to  the  lively  exercise  of  every 
Christian  Grace  and  the  powerful  Practice  of  our  holy  Religion." 

Longmeadow  is  specially  mentioned  by  Jonathan  Edwards  in  this  narra- 
tive as  among  these  towns  and  villages,  and  Stephen  Williams  throws  fur- 
ther light  upon  this  remarkable  revival.  "  Jan.  15,  1740.  I  hear  there  is  an 
hopefull  revivall  of  religion  at  Deerfield  and  at  Northampton, — especially 
among  young  ones.  I  rejoyce  to  hear  of  this,  and  I  pray  God,  Grant  this 
may  be  ye  case  in  all  our  Towns  and  parishes." 


243 

He  speaks  often  in  these  days  of  his  "  being  warm  and  affectionate " 
in  his  preaching.  "  Feb.  2.  I  hope  there  is  some  thotfull  concern  in  some 
in  ye  place.  To  God  all  the  praise  belongs.  Oh  blessed  Spirit  be  pleased 
to  follow  thine  own  work."  The  next  Sabbath  "  some  of  ye  auditory  seem 
to  be  affected."  "March  30.  Dear  Brother  Raynolds  was  here — we  took 
sweet  counsell  and  prayed  together.  Oh  Lord  keep  us  in  thy  fear — direct 
me  by  Thy  spirit,  and  make  me  thankfull  and  humble,  holy,  and  courageous 
and  prudent.  April  2.  I  perceive  some  religiously  disposed  women  in  y" 
place  meet  together  to  pray.  Oh  yl  God  wd  pour  out  a  spirit  of  prayer  upon 
ye  place  in  Generall." 

On  the  I4th  he  attends  a  lecture  preached  in  the  West  Parish  of  Suffield 
by  Jonathan  Edwards.  The  ministers  of  that  day  are  continually  helping 
each  other.  About  these  times  he  has  increasing  "  calls  and  opportunities 
to  advise  and  direct  souls"  and  his  prayers  are  very  earnest  for  "  wisdom 
to  deal  with  souls."  He  laments  some  religious  extravagances  that  are  rife 
and  is  especially  filled  with  "Great  Concern  that  his  dear  brother  Daven- 
port is  like  to  hurt  ye  Kingdom  of  our  Great  Lord  and  Master.  May  8. 
Ye  accts  y'  we  have  from  abroad  of  ye  revivall  of  religion  are  very  various. 
Some  represent  matters  as  very  encouraging,  others  as  discouraging.  June 
6.  I  hear  of  strange  and  unusual  things  at  Suffield  and  elsewhere.  I  don't 
condemn  them — but  suspend  my  sentiments,  and  pray  God  to  carry  on  his 
own  work  prosperously."  The  people  come  to  him  in  increasing  numbers 
for  spiritual  counsel.  "  10.  There  is  evidently  a  concern  among  ye  people 
of  this  place."  He  hears  of  "strange  things — extasies  &c,  y' people  fall 
into,"  and  is  full  of  fears. 

The  signs  of  religious  concern  multiply.  He  preaches  here  and  there  in 
private  houses,  which  are  full  of  hearers.  Goes  to  Enfield  on  July  7th. 
Mr.  M preaches  "a  close  sermon  to  a  grave  and  Attentive  congrega- 
tion ;  "  thence  the  same  afternoon  to  Suffield,  where  on  the  previous  Sab- 
bath ninety-five  had  been  added  to  the  church,  and  where  a  "  remarkable 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God"  is  in  progress.  "  About  sun  an  hour  high 

we  had  an  exercise  on  ye  Meeting-House  Hill.  Mr  M began  with  prayer 

and  Br  Williams  preached..  Congregation  remarkably  attentive  and  grave, 
and  some  after  ye  exercise  seemed  to  take  on  for. others.  In  y6  evening  Mr 
M.  preached  in  y  meeting  house  from  Heb.  3,  12,  and  there  was  considera- 
ble crying  out  among  ye  people,  in  one  part  of  ye  House  and  another — yea — 
and  a  Screeching  -in  ye  street.  One  woman  came  to  ye  House  where  I 
lodged,  y'  was  Greatly  distressed,  but  she  Gave  a  very  imperfect  ace*  of 
things.  July  8.  This  forenoon  Mr  M.  preached  from  2  Cor.  5.  20  and  Mr 
W.  from  Acts  7.  51.  Ye  discourses  solemn  and  ye  Congregation  considera- 
bly affected  and  many  cryed  out.  We  returned  to  Mr  R's  and  dined,  and 
then  went  over  to  Enfield,  where  we  met  dear  M1  Edwards  of  Northamp- 
ton who  preached  a  mostt  awakening  sermon  from  Deut.  32.  35  "  (a  sermon 
and  an  occasion  historically  famous)  "  and  before  sermon  was  done — there 
was  a  great  moaning  and  crying  out  throout  ye  whole  House — '  What  shall 


«  244 

I  do'  to  be  saved  ?  Oh !  I  am  going  to  Hell.  Oh  !  what  shall  I  do  for  a 
Christ  &c  &c  :  ' — So  yl  yc  minister  was  obliged  to  desist — ye  shrieks  and 
crys  were  piercing  and  Amazing.  After  some  time  of  waiting — the  congre- 
gation were  still,  so  y'  a  prayer  was  made  by  Mr  W.  and  after  that  we  de- 
scended from  the  pulpitt,  and  discoursed  with  the  people — some  in  one 
place  and  some  in  another — and,  Amazing  and  Astonishing — ye  power  of 
God  was  seen — and  several  souls  were  hopefully  wrought  upon  y*  night. 
And  oh  !  ye  cheerfullness  and  pleasantness  of  their  countenances  yf  received 
comfort — oh,  that  God  would  strengthen  and  confirm.  We  sung  an  hymn 
and  prayed,  and  dismissed  ye  assembly." 

"July  9.  In  ye  morning,  when  I  awoke,  I  had  a  great  desire  in  my  soul, 
yl  God  would  give  me  to  see  at  Longmeadow,  what  I  had  seen  at  Enfield. 
I  was  affected  and  ready  to  dissolve  into  Tears — but  can't  well  tell  why." 

He  comes  home  and  finds  his  family  and  flock  in  what  "  seemed  to  be  a 
different  posture  from  what  was  usuall.  A  great  assembly  were  got  together 
and  I  wept  at  looking  upon  some  of  ye  congregation.  M'  M.  preached 
from  Matt  25.  41,  and  Mr  W.  from  Job  29.  8.  There  was  considerable 
shrieking  and  trembling,  before  ye  discourse  was  finished.  When  they  were 
dismissed,  those  concerned  and  wounded  were  directed  to  go  to  my  House, 
whither  y  ministers  repaired.  I  myself  was  called  to  Serg*  N.  B's  where 
J.  B.  had  been  carried  in  great  distress.  I  prayed  at  ye  House  and  Some 
Seemed  Smitten  and  struck  down  in  ye  time  of  prayer.  After  prayer,  and 
giving  some  counsell  and  advice,  I  returned  home,  and  found  the  concern 
had  increased,  and  many  were  crying  out  in  distress,  and  among  them  my 
son  Warham  with  his  classmates — and  Phyllis.  Severall  received  some 
comfort  and  joy  at  my  house — and  so  did  J.  B.  at  her  uncle's  house  when  I 
returned.  Her  distress  was  great  and  her  comfort  remarkable.  From  the 
greatest  anguish,  she  became  calm  and  composed,  and  cryd  out  '  Thanks  be 
to  God  for  Christ,  his  loveliness  !  Oh,  I  could  dye  to  be  with  Christ.'  She 
had  (I  believe)  such  a  discovery  of  Christ,  y'  was  almost  too  much  for  y 
humane  frame  to  Bear.  After  dinner  we  went  to  Town  where  Mr  W. 
preached  from  John  9.  38.  He  was  enlarged  and  solemn.  Some  children 
cryed  and  took  on  y1  sat  in  yc  Allay  before  the  pulpitt — and  y'  was  all.  Twas 
dark  when  we  came  out  .of  y  House — we  went  to  D'  B's.  But  presently 
heard  a  crying  out  in  y  yard — when  lo  ! — I  found  my  own  son  John  (who 
conducted  the  home  farm)  speaking  freely,  Boldly  and  earnestly  to  ye  peo- 
ple, and  warning  them  against  damnation,  and  inviting  them  to  come  to 
Christ.  I  spake  to  him,  but  he  seemed  beyond  himself,  and  had  great  dis- 
coveries of  y  love  of  Christ,  and  great  concern  for  souls.  He  said  he  won- 
dered at  himself.  He  spoke  what  was  reasonable  and  just ;  expressed  great 
concern  for  those  y1  frequent  taverns  &c."  (His  conscience  as  a  farmer  had 
been  perplexed  as  we  perceive  by  a  conversation  with  his  father,  recorded 
elsewhere,  about  the  propriety  of  selling  cider  to  tavern  keepers.)  "  We 
persuaded  him  into  ye  House  where  he  expressed  a  great  love  to  his  uncle 
W.  and  would  say  '  O,  y  Dear  Lambs  y'  have  this  day  been  brot  to  Love 


245 

Christ,  &c  &c.'  Ye  concern  in  ye  yard  increased,  and  we  went  out  and  dis- 
coursed with  ye  people.  Mr  M.  prayed  with  them  and  so  did  I  and  dismissed 
them.  John  seemed  weak  and  faint  but  he  came  home  with  us  and  we  had 
a  comfortable  night. 

"  10.  In  ye  morning  about  9  o'clock  we  had  another  lecture.  Mr  W. 
preached  from  Isa.  50.  10.  Ye  word  came  with  mighty  power  and  N.  H. 
and  J.  Steel  were  made  to  tremble  as  with  an  Ague,  and  others  were  much 
affected.  My  dear  Brethren  then  took  leave.  Ye  Lord  reward  them  for 

their  Labour  of  love My  son  John  seems  to  have  a  great  sense  of 

God's  Sovereignty  and  Justice.  The  Lord  graciously  strengthen  him." 

The  diary  goes  on  with  daily  accounts  of  experiences  of  spiritual  distress 
or  recovery  that  are  singularly  fraught  with  powerful  emotion,  a  contagious 
movement  of  the  sensibilities  which  sometimes  impairs  the  bodily  strength. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  being  in  continual  contact  with  such  excitements  the 
record  for  July  nth  is,  "This  day  I  feel  weak  and  spent.  N.  H.  was  here 
and  seems  overborne  almost.  I  fear  whether  his  nature  will  bear  it.  Oh 
Lord,  keep  him  from  distraction  and  give  him  relief." 

On  the  Sabbath,  July  I2th,  he  improves  and  applies  the  vision  of  the  dry 
bones,  Ezk.  39,  and  is  "  somewhat  enlarged  and  earnest."  "  13.  PoorZick 
(one  of  his  negro  servants)  comes  to  me  this  morning,  giveing  me  an  ac- 
count of  the  distress  he  is  in.  Y*  word  touched  him  yesterday.  Will  God 
in  very  deed,  own  and  bless  and  succeed  me,  a  poor  worthless  worm  ? 
N.  B.  Last  night,  my  wife  seemed  to  have  a  great  sense  of  ye  great  things 
God  had  clone  for  her,  and  was  doing  among  us — was  much  affected  with 
Gods  Sovereignty  &c.  She  spake  in  an  unusuall  and  (to  me)  surprising 
manner  of  divine  things — kept  herself  awake  a  Great  part  of  ye  night,  and 
me  very  considerably.  Toward  night  several  came  in  to  seek  advice  and 
direction.  14.  My  wife  is  still  full.  Oh  what  is  there  in  ye  fountain."  In 
evident  despondency,  the  worn-out  pastor  cries,  "  Oh,  Lord  be  pleased  to 
bless  me — even  me  also,  and  graciously  manifest  thy  love  to  me.  In  y 
evening  there  came  in  a  great  number  of  young  people  from  Serg'  Cooley's 
meeting  crying  and  taking  on — greatly  distressed."  The  next  day  Rev.  Mr. 
H.  came  to  join  his  services  and  the  pastor  remarks  :  "  He  seems  dissatis- 
fied as  to  y'  work  of  God  here — ye  Lord  be  pleased  to  remove  his  doubts." 

Whatever  doubts  the  reader,  who  belongs  to  these  different  days, 
may  have  concerning  some  of  the  features  of  this  remarkable  revival, 
there  can  be  little  question  of  its  great  efficiency  in  correcting  moral 
defects  and  in  lifting  the  churches  of  this  region,  and  the  whole  com- 
munity as  well,  to  a  higher  level  of  life  and  conduct.  Afterwards,  in- 
deed, from  1745  to  1792,  including  the  Revolutionary  period,  there 
prevailed  another  spiritual  declension,  but  never  falling  back  to  the 
level  of  religious  apathy  which  preceded  the  "Great  Awakening." 


246 


N.— CHURCHES    AND     MINISTERS    OF     THE     PRESENT 

CENTURY. 

Until  the  3d  day  of  October,  1819,  which  closed  the  pastorate  of 
Richard  Salter  Storrs,  by  an  attack  of  epidemic  fever  at  the  age  of 
57,  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  had  been  generally  united  in  the  orig- 
inal church  under  what  had  been  for  a  century  essentially  the  same 
ministry, — Williams  having  laid  strong  foundations,  and  Storrs  build- 
ing thereupon  with  uninterrupted  success.  From  an  early  period, 
however — about  1727 — there  had  been  occasional  dissentients  whose 
sympathies  went  with  the  "irregular"  ministrations,  as  they  were 
deemed  by  the  "  standing  order,"  of  lay  exhorters  and  private  meet- 
ings. They  were  the  "  Separates  "  of  that  day,  and  their  sympathies 
went  with  the  revivalists  like  Gilbert  Tennant  and  James  Davenport. 
The  term  Separates,  perhaps  originated  in  the  provocation  of  a  Con- 
necticut law  which  forbade  any  person,  under  any  pretense  whatsoever, 
to  assemble  in  any  meeting-house  provided  for  public  worship  without 
leave  of  the  minister  and  congregation  for  whose  use  it  was  provided, 
under  penalty  of  ten  shillings  for  every  person  so  offending.  "  Nor 
shall  any  persons  neglect  the  public  worship  of  God  in  some  lawful 
congregation,  and  form  themselves  into  separate  companies  in  private 
houses,  under  penalty  of  ten  shillings  for  every  such  offense." 

The  practice  had  been  to  compel  every  town  to  support  by  tax  as- 
sessments the  regular  ministers,  or  such  as  were  called  "  Orthodox." 
As  the  contention  waxed  hot,  however,  over  compulsory  support  of  the 
"  standing  order,"  the  General  Court  passed  a  law  in  May,  1728,  that  no 
Anabaptists  or  Quakers  duly  enrolled  in  their  several  societies,  who 
allege  a  scruple  of  conscience  against  the  support  of  ministers  of  the 
churches  established  by  law  in  the  town  where  they  dwell,  shall  have 
their  polls  taxed,  nor  their  bodies  taken  in  execution  to  satisfy  any 
such  ministerial  rate  or  tax  assessed  upon  their  estates,  provided  that 
such  persons  do  usually  attend  the  meetings  of  their  respective  socie- 
ties, and  that  they  live  within  five  miles  of  the  place  of  such  meeting. 

By  degrees  the  "  Separate  "  movement, — more  rife  in  Connecticut 
than  in  Massachusetts,  and  productive  at  one  period  of  heated  eccle- 
siastical strifes,  though  fortunately  never  so  in  Longmeadow, — 
became  merged  into  the  denomination  of  Baptists.  Stephen  Williams 
alludes  to  them  sometimes  as  "  Sectaries  "  and  again  as  Baptists,  but 
always  mentions  them  with  kindness  and  respect.  "Sept.  14.  1727. 
I  hear  Mr  Callender  is  in  town  among  y*  Baptists.  I  hope  he  teaches 


247 

y°  people  he  visits  piety  and  vertue,  and  if  they  grow  in  vertue  and 
piety,  I  shall  rejoyce."  In  the  following  little  passage  at  arms,  how- 
ever, which  did  occur  at  the  outset  of  the  movement,  the  honors  do 
not  perhaps  appear  to  have  rested,  exclusively  at  least,  upon  the  side 
of  the  "  standing  order." 

In  1727,  Jonathan  Worthington  and  fifteen  other  persons  of  Spring- 
field, which  then  included  Longmeadow,  sent  a  letter  to  the  Baptist 
church  in  Boston,  desiring  that  their  pastor,  Elder  Elisha  Callender, 
might  be  sent  for  further  instruction,  to  understand  the  true  institution 
of  baptism  according  to  the  Word  of  God." 

To  the  Church  of  Chrift  in  Bofton,  under  the  care  of  Elder  Elifha  Callender,  the 

fubfcribers  hereunto  fend  greeting : 

Beloved :  Although  we  are  no  church  nor  members  of  any  church,  yet  we  have 
formerly  looked  upon  ourfelves,  at  leaft  fome  of  us,  to  have  been  members  of  fuch 
church  or  churches  whofe  faith  and  practice  is  to  baptize,  or  rather  fprinkle,  infants ; 
but  through  God's  goodnefs,  by  fearching  the  Scriptures,  and  fuch  other  helps  as 
we  have  received  from  fome  of  your  church,  we  have  been  made  fenfible  that  our 
former  practice  with  relation  to  .baptifm,  has  been  grounded  too  much  upon  the  tra- 
ditions of  men.  And  as,  through  grace,  we  hope  we  have  in  fome  meafure  been 
made  fenfible  of  the  error  that  the  churches  in  this  land  in  general  are  in  with  re- 
fpect  to  baptifm,  both  as  to  manner  and  fubject,  the  which,  in  times  paft,  we  have 
too  fondly  imbibed  and  embraced,  fo  we  defire  to  renounce  and  forfake  the  fame,  as 
not  the  leaft  correfponding  with  the  Word  of  God.  And  underftanding  that  the 
church  at  Bofton  practices  and  allows  of  no  other  but  believers'  baptifm ;  we  do 
therefore  fpread  our  cafe  before  the  church,  humbly  entreating  your  advice  under 
our  prefent  circumftances ;  and  if  it  agree  with  the  pleafure  and  advice  of  the 
church  (in  order  for  the  attaining  further  knowledge  in  the  ways  of  God),  to  grant 
that  Elder  Elifha  Callender  may  give  us  a  vifit  and  preach  fome  fermons  among  us, 
who  as  yet,  the  moft  of  us,  never  heard  a  fermon  preached  by  a  Baptift.  And  now, 
leaving  our  concern  with  God,  defiring  the  prayers  of  the  church  that  God  would 
carry  on  the  work  which  we  hope  through  grace  He  has  begun,  we  defire  to  fub- 
scribe,  though  unworthy,  your  brethren  in  the  bonds  of  the  gofpel. 

JONATHAN  WORTHINGTON  (and  fifteen  others). 

Elder  Callender  accordingly  came,  and  on  July  23,  1727,  baptized 
eleven  persons,  not,  however,  without  a  "  remonstration  "  sent  to  him 
three  days  before  by  pastors  Stephen  Williams,  Daniel  Brewer,  and 
Samuel  Hopkins  of  Springfield,  Ebenezer  Devotion  of  Suffield,  and 
Nehemiah  Bull  of  Westfield.  Their  letter  is  worthy  of  being  read  in 
full  as  illustrating  their  spirit  and  the  temper  of  the  times  : 

Reverend  Sir :  We  had  a  defire  to  have  feen  you  and  difcourfed  with  ydu  in  a 
Chriftian,  moderate,  and  calm  manner,  reflecting  your  vifiting  the  people  of  our 
parts  and  charge,  and  to  have  known  from  you  whether  it  can  be  that  the  Kingdom 
and  intereft  of  our  glorious  Lord  Jefus  is  likely  to.  be  advanced,  and  the  welfare  of 
precious  fouls  furthered  by  the  meafures  you  are  now  purfuing.  We  are  not  fond 
of  men's  being  called  the  followers  of  Paul  or  Apollos,  but,  if  the  good  of  men's 
32 


248 

fouls  be  furthered,  we  fhall  rejoice.  But,  Sir,  if  heats,  debates,  and  divifions  do 
follow,  (as  we  fear  they  will,)  to  the  wounding  of  religion,  and  the  danger  of  vital 
piety,  we  afk  whether  blame  mud  not  be  at  your  door  ?  If  you  efteem  of  us  as 
minifters  of  Jefus  Chrift,  and  would  have  been  pleafed  to  have  conferred  with  us, 
(Elder  Callender  appears  to  have  feduously  avoided  an  interview),  we  would,  any  of 
us,  have  endeavored  to  have  given  you  as  true  account  as  we  were  capable  of  the 
circumftances  of  thefe  people  ;  and  would  have  been  glad  to  join  with,  you,  or  any 
good  man,  in  doing  anything  for  the  revival  of  decayed  piety,  &c.  But  we  cannot 
think  preaching  to  or  treating  with  particular  perfons,  in  a  private  manner,  to 
inftil  into  them  doctrines  which,  we  think,  are  not  according  to  truth  and  godlinefs, 
to  be  fo  Chriftian-like,  and  we  aflure  you,  is  not  what  we  expected  from  Mr  Cal- 
lender, whatever  we  might  have  feared  from  others  ;  and  we  fhould  have  thought  it 
more  fair  if  you  had  defired  to  have  preached  in  one  of  our  pulpits  where  we  might 
have  heard  you,  and  have  an  opportunity  to  have  made  our  remarks  and  replies  if 
we  thought  it  not  according  to  truth.  See  Matthew  10.  26.  27. 

EBENEZER  DEVOTION, 
Springfield.  July  19.  1727.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS,  ETC. 

When  Elder  Callender  came  the  next  year  he  received  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  the  Springfield  ministers  of  the  standing  order  : 

Reverend  Sir :  Our  laboring  to  wait  upon  you  together  on  laft  year  not  being 
well  received  by  fome,  we  fhall  not  now  take  pains  after  any  fuch  thing,  but  take 
this  method  to  afk  you  whether  you  came  prepared  for  and  expecting  of  a  public 
difpute  concerning  the  subjects  and  modes  of  baptifm.  Pleafe,  Sir,  by  a  line  or 
two,  to  favor  us  with  a  reply  to  this  as  foon  as  poffible,  directing  it  immediately  to 
me,  D.  B.,  or  (if  an  opportunity  offers  convenient)  immediately  to  Mr  Williams  at 
the  Meadows.  DAN1  BREWER, 

STEPHEN  WILLIAMS, 

Springfield.  Sept.  16. 1728.  SAM'  HOPKINS. 

To  this  Elder  Callender  replied  : 

Reverend  Sir  :  It  is  not  my  cuftom  and  manner  to  go  about  the  country  to  dif- 
pute and  debate  and  wrangle  with  thofe  who  differ  from  me  in  opinion.  It  is  well 
known  that  I  am  for  peace  with  all  men,  and  for  Chriftians  to  live  in  love  and  char- 
ity, and  for  every  man  to  a6l  as  he  is  fully  perfuaded  in  his  own  mind.  But  if  you 
will  not  be  quiet  and  eafy,  and  will  insift  upon  it  that  your  people  muft  hear  what 
is  to  be  faid  in  oppofition  to  what  I  think  contrary  to  truth  and  godlinefs,  you  may 
inform,  Sir,  your  humble  Servant,  ELISHA  CALLENDER. 

To  the  Reverend  Mr  DANIEL  BREWER. 
Springfield.  Sept.  17.  1728. 

With  which  parting  shaft  of  the  Elder  the  exchange  of  letters  seems 
to  have  ceased,  and,  as  no  public  discussion  ensued,  it  is  inferable  the 
pastors  of  the  standing  order  in  this  vicinity  made  up  their  minds  to 
interpose  no  further  hindrance  to  the  movement. 

From  the  repeated  visits  of  Elder  Callender,  Elder  John  Comer  of 
Newport,  and  others,  there  resulted  the  organization  of  a  Baptist 
church  in  Springfield,  October  14,  1740,  with  Edward  Upham  of  Mai- 
den pastor,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1734.  In  Stephen  Williams' 


249 

Longmeadow  diocese,  however,  although  Baptist  ministers  frequently 
held  meetings  in  private  houses,  no  church  was  organized,  until,  on 
the  igth  of  September,  1807,  a  branch  of  the  Baptist  church  in  En- 
field,  Conn.,  was  constituted  in  the  extreme  eastern  district  of  the  town 
comprising  twenty-three  members.  The  next  year  they  engaged  Elder 
George  Atwell  of  Enfield,  who  had  been  greatly  efficient  in  frequent 
visits,  to  "  qfficiate  as  their  Teacher  of  Divinity  one-fourth  of  the  time 
for  the  ensuing  year,"  while  Elder  Alvin  Bennet  was  engaged  for  the 
other  three-fourths ;  the  former  to  be  paid  $55,  and  the  latter  $75. 
The  year  after — 1809 — Elder  Atwell  was  secured  for  half  the  time 
with  $100  salary,  having  to  keep  a  horse  and  support  a  wife  and  nine 
children,  while  Elder  Bennet,  being  a  young  man  without  family,  re- 
ceived for  his  half  of  the  time  $50.  But  many  gifts  for  the  larder, 
the  wood-pile,  and  the  spinning-wheel,  eked  out  the  scanty  pay.  On 
one  occasion  Elder  Atwell  received  from  his  people  forty-seven  runs 
of  yarn. 

From  time  to  time  the  church  deplores  its  remissness  with  respect 
to  discipline ;  it  chooses  committees  to  go  and  talk  with  delinquent 
members,  and  votes  that  no  members  be  allowed  to  go  to  any  dancing 
assembly.  May  16,  1810,  the  church  voted  "  to  petition  Enfield  church 
to  be  set  off  by  ourselves,"  and  also  "  heard  the  report  of  E.  Terry's 
conduct  and  accepted  the  same,  and  we  got  rid  of  him  as  easy  as  we 
could." 

June  23  a  council  of  neighboring  churches  was  convened  who  gave 
the  branch  church  fellowship  as  a  separate  church.  In  1821  the  ques- 
tion whether  it  was  legally  constituted  gave  occasion  for  another  coun- 
cil, and  the  result  is  recorded  that  "the  Brethren  and  Sisters  in 
Longmeadow  were  legally  constituted."  February  10,  1820,  it  was 
voted  that  "  the  tax  made  out  against  Deacon  Abial  Pease  be  paid 
back  to  him  with  interest  when  he  shall  make,  a  gift  of  $100  to  the 
Society."  January  4,  1821,  it  was  voted  to  raise  $150  to  pay  for 
preaching  the  ensuing  year,  and  also  to  choose  a  collector  and  that 
the  collecting  business  be  put  up  at  vendue.  Daniel  Billings  bid  it 
off  for  $4.50  and  gave  bonds  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Society.  The 
records  show  an  interesting  variety  of  changes  in  the  methods  of  rais- 
ing money  ;  one  year  by  voluntary  assessment  on  polls  and  estates  ; 
the  next  by  subscription,  and  the  next  by  "  a  tax  of  equality  upon  the 
polls  and  estates  and  to  collect  the  same  by  a  legal  process  of  law." 
In  1824  the  Society  voted  that  their  prudential  committee  serve  with 
the  church  committee  in  hiring  preaching  for  the  year  to  come,  and 
also  that  "  the  Committee  report  the  precise  sum  annexed  to  each  in- 


250 

dividual  name  which  he  has  paid,  and  expose  the  names  of  those  who 
do  not  pay  in  our  next  annual  meeting."  The  same  year  the  church 
acknowledges  the  gift  of  two  pewter  tankards  and  five  cups  from  the 
First  Church  in  the  western  part  of  the  town  by  the  hands  of  Dea. 
Ebenezer  Burt. 

After  long  and  hard  wrestling  with  the  problem  of  how  best  to  raise 
money,  the  church  voted  to  pursue  the  method  which  the  gospel  points 
out,  viz.,  "  an  equality  among  brethren  of  each  his  temporal  substance 
as  God  hath  prospered  them."  In  1831  the  church  voted  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  speculative  Free  Masonry."  In  1832  a  warrant 
was  issued  by  Seth  Taylor,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  warning  the  members 
to  meet  and  see  if  the  Society  will  build  a  Meeting-House,  and  adopt 
measures  to  carry  the  same  into  effect.  The  new  Meeting-House  was 
finished  and  occupied  for  the  first  time  in  February,  1833,  and  the 
"old,  long  School-house,"  low,  weather-beaten,  and  uncomfortable, 
was  sold  at  auction  for  $22.  In  1855  the  Meeting-House  was  remod- 
eled and  furnished  with  vestry,  tower,  and  bell.  In  1873  the  "Soci- 
ety "  was  dissolved,  and  its  records  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  clerk 
of  the  church. 

The  church  has  been  favored  with  several  special  seasons  of  revival 
and  ingathering,  and  with  a  succession  of  faithful  pastors  in  the  fol- 
lowing order  :  George  Atwell,  Alvin  Bennet,  Buckley  Waters,  Henry 
Barrett,  Elder  Sawyer,  Geo.  B.  Atwell,  Elder  Gage,  Nicholas  Branch, 
Henry  Tonkin,  John  M.  Hunt,  Moses  J.  Kelley,  James  Squires,  N. 
W.  Miner,  F.  Bestor,  A.  S.  Lovell,  M.  Kennie,  L.  H.  Wakeman,  T.  O. 
Judd,  H.  G.  Gay,  W.  S.  Phillips,  O.  R.  Hunt,  and  the  present  minis- 
ter, Rev.  L.  H.  Copeland. 

The  "  Second  Congregational  Church  of  Christ  in  Longmeadow," 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  was  organized  April  22,  1829,  at  the 
house  of  Ezra  Taylor,  with  a  membership  of  forty-five  persons,  forty 
of  whom  were  dismissed  from  the  First  Church.  Ebenezer  Burt  was 
at  the  same  time  chosen  a  deacon.  Five  months  afterwards,  Septem- 
ber 29,  a  society  connected  with  the  church  was  organized  with  the 
title  of  "  The  Third  Religious  Society  of  Longmeadow."  In  1828  a 
Meeting-House  was  built  at  a  cost 'of  $3,500,  and  in  1859  removed 
from  its  location  on  the  hill,  located  in  the  center  of  the  village,  and 
remodeled. 

The  first  pastor,  Rev.  Calvin  Foote,  was  installed  April  13,  1831, 
on  a  salary  of  $450.  The  installing  council  held  a  prayer  meeting  at 


251 

the  house  of  William  Lathrop  at  g  o'clock  in  the  morning,  with  special 
reference  to  the  success  of  the  ministry  about  to  be  established.  An 
unusual  solemnity  pervaded  the  installation  service.  It  was  the  be- 
ginning of  a  revival  which  continued  through  several  months,  and  was 
fruitful  in  the  addition  of  sixty-three  converts  to  the  church  during  that 
year.  During  Mr.  Foote's  successful  ministry  of  four  years  and  three 
months,  ninety-nine  were  received  into  the  church.  He  was  a  native 
of  Colchester,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College,  Vt.,  and 
died  in  1867. — He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Martyn  Tupper,  who  was 
installed  October  7,  1835,  anc^  during  a  ministry  of  fourteen  years 
proved  himself  worthy  of  the  tribute  given  in  the  commemorative  dis- 
course by  Rev.  E.  P.  Blodgett :  "  An  instructive,  discriminating,  and 
practical  preacher ;  a  sympathizing,  affectionate,  and  helpful  pastor  ; 
characterized  by  honesty,  sincerity,  and  fidelity  in  all  his  conduct." 
He  was  a  native  of  West  Stafford,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Princeton 
College,  and  for  two  years  in  Yale  Divinity  School,  and  died  in  1872 
at  the  age  of  72.  During  his  ministry  in  East  Longmeadow  ninety- 
five  were  added  to  the  church. — Rev.  William  E.  Dixon,  a  native  of 
Enfield,  Conn.,  and  a  graduate  of  Williams  College,  was  installed 
October  14,  1852,  and  dismissed  May  30,  1854. — He  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  Joshua  R.  Brown,  December  13,  1854,  who  after  a  faithful 
service  of  four  years  died  September  7,  1858,  of  a  fatal  epidemic,  to 
which  several  in  the  parish  fell  victims. — Rev.  A.  B.  Peabody,  a  native 
of  Boxford,  and  a  graduate  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  was 
installed  May  24,  1860,  and  after  a  useful  ministry  of  six  years  and 
ten  months  was  dismissed  March  26,  1867. — Rev.  A.  J.  Dutton,  the 
present  pastor,  a  native  of  Stowe,  Vt.,  and  a  graduate  of  Middlebury 
College  and  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  was  installed  December 
8,  1869.  His  ministry  of  nearly  fifteen  years — the  longest  of  any — 
has  been  eminently  successful.  The  church  is  active,  benevolent,  and 
progressive  ;  has  been  blessed  both  recently  and  throughout  it  history 
with  several  revival  seasons,  and  has  received  during  the  fifty-five 
years  of  its  continuance  about  290  by  profession  of  their  faith. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  East  Longmeadow  wr.s  organ- 
ized in  June,  1853,  Rev.  David  K.  Merrill  being  the  preacher  in 
charge.  A  board  of  nine  trustees  was  elected,  Oliver  Wolcott  being 
Secretary,  which  office  he  has  held  to  the  present  time.  During  the 
same  year  a  church  edifice  was  built  and  dedicated.  In  1880 'it  was 
thoroughly  renovated.  In  1860  a  commodious  parsonage  was  erected, 
and  the  church  property  is  free  of  all  indebtedness.  The  pulpit  has 


252 

been  favored  from  time  to  time  with  the  continuous  ministrations  of 
such  distinguished  clergymen  as  Rev.  Miner  Raymond,  D.D.,  and  the 
professors  of  Wesleyan  Academy  at  Wilbraham,  Rev.  William  Rice, 
D.D.,  and  other  resident  clergymen  of  Springfield.  The  regular  con- 
ference ministers  have  been  :  1856-7,  J.  M.  Clark;  1860-2,  R.  Mitch- 
ell;  1862-4,  1-  C.  Pratt;  1866,  A.  T.  Eddy,  a  young  man  of  fine 
character  and  great  promise  who  died  after  a  few  months  of  faithful 
labor;  1867-9,  G.  D.  Brown;  1869-71,  J.  Candlin  :  1871-2,  J.  W. 
Lee  ;  1872-4,  W.  Wignall ;  1874-5,  N.  F.  Stevens;  1875,  J.  Cadwell, 
who  died  suddenly  after  a  long  ministry  of  much  usefulness  ;  1876-8, 
Joseph  Scott;  1878-9,  J.  W.  Price;  1879-82,  J.  Marcy  ;  1882,  J.  H. 
Gaylord.  The  church,  although  not  large  in  membership,  is  prosper- 
ous and  hopeful. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  St.  Mary,  in  the  western  part  of 
the  town,  had  its  beginning  in  a  committee  of  citizens  constituted 
August  n,  1868,  and  consisting  of  Michael  Quinn,  Martin  Hartigan, 
John  S.  Waters,  Patrick  Connors,  and  Peter  Ward — Martin  Hartigan 
being  chosen  Clerk  and  John  S.  Waters  Treasurer.  An  appropriate 
building,  formerly  known  as  the  Lawton  School-house,  was  purchased 
and  removed  to  a  site  on  Williams  Street,  north  of  the  Village  Ceme- 
tery, on  the  basis  of  a  subscription  made  by  the  Catholic  citizens  of 
$245,  to  which  was  added  a  donation  of  $77  by  the  congregation  of 
St.  Michael's  Church,  Springfield,  and  generous  donations  from  inhab- 
itants of  Longmeadow,  including  many  from  those  of  the  Protestant 
faith.  The  Catholic  citizens  contributed  also  largely  of  their  labor  in 
preparing  the  site  and  remodeling  the  building,  which  was  completed 
at  a  total  expense  of  $1,119.25,  and  dedicated  free  from  any  debt 
October  2,  1870,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  O'Reilly.  The  parish  priests 
have  been  Rev.  P.  Healey,  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese,  who  gave 
much  valuable  counsel  and  oversight  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
church's  history,  Rev.  J.  J.  McDermott,  Charles  E.  Bourke,  William 
H.  Goggin,  and  Rev.  E.  Pelletier  at  present  in  charge.  The  parish- 
ioners of  St.  Mary's  are  good  attendants  on  public  worship  as  well  as 
good  supporters  of  it,  and  the  church  is  in  a  prosperous  condition. 

In  East  Longmeadow  a  considerable  congregation  of  Roman  Cath.- 
olics  meet  statedly  for  public  worship  in  the  Town  Hall  under  the 
curacy  of  Rev.  E.  Pelletier,  and  contemplate  the  speedy  organization 
of  a  church  and  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice. 


253 

After  the  death  of  Pastor  Storrs  in  1819,  the  First  Church  called 
Mr.  Baxter  Dickinson,  who  was  ordained  March  5,  1825,  and  dismissed 
October  20,  1829.  He  was  a  native  of  Amherst  and  graduated  from 
Yale  College  in  1817,  and  from  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in 
1821,  with  high  honors.  His  pastorate  of  six  years  in  Longmeadow 
has  been  already  characterized  as  one  of  singular  ability  and  fidelity. 
Another  highly  useful  ministry  of  six  years  as  pastor  of  the  Third 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Newark  was  terminated  by  an  appointment  in 
1835  t°  the  Chair  of  Sacred  Rhetoric  and  Pastoral  Theology  in  Lane 
Theological  Seminary,  Ohio.  After  four  years'  service  there,  he  was 
called  to  the  same  department  of  instruction  in  Auburn  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York.  In  1839  he  was  honored  with  the  moderator- 
ship  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly.  After  eight  years  of 
service  at  Auburn,  he  gave  instruction  for  a  time  in  Sacred  Rhetoric 
at  Andover  in  the  chair  made  vacant  by  the  transfer  of  Professor 
Park  to  the  department  of  theology,  and  then  labored  for  ten  years  in 
the  service  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union.  The  last 
eight  years  of  his  active  life  was  devoted  to  a  family  school  for  young 
ladies  at  Lake  Forest,  Illinois.  His  declining  years  were  spent  at 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  the  beautiful  home  repose  of  a  serene  old  age,  -well 
concluding  a  long  life  of  laborious  usefulness.  That  usefulness  was 
perpetuated  in  the  distinguished  usefulness  of  his  sons.  The  elder, 
Rev.  Richard  Salter  Storrs  Dickinson,  became  pastor  of  the  Houston 
Street  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City  in  1848,  and  in  1852 
associate  pastor  with  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  cut 
off  in  the  midst  of  the  highest  promise  by  sudden  death  at  Edinburgh, 
Scotland,  while  on  a  journey  abroad.  The  younger  son,  Rev.  William 
C.  Dickinson,  late  of  Lafayette,  Ind.,  and  now  of  College  Hall,  Cincin- 
nati, is  still  in  honorable  and  active  service  as  a  minister  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

The  successor  of  Baxter  Dickinson  was  Jonathan  Bailey  Condit, 
ordained  July  14,  1831,  and  dismissed  October  4,  1835.  He  was  a 
native  of  Hanover,  N.  J.,  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College  and  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  and  after  his  Longmeadow  pastorate,  character- 
ized not  only  by  eminent  usefulness  but  by  the  peculiar  fasci- 
nation of  his  rare  eloquence  and  personal  attractions,  he  occupied  the 
rhetorical  chair  of  Amherst  College  for  about  three  years,  and  a.fter- 
wards  became  the  successor  of  those  distinguished  preachers,  Edward 
Payson  at  Portland,  Me.,  and  Edward  Dorr  Griffin  at  Newark,  N.  J. 
He  was  afterwards  Professor  of  Sacred  Rhetoric  and  Pastoral  Theol- 


254 

ogy  at  Lane  and  Auburn  Seminaries,  and  died  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  Jan- 
uary i,  1876.  He  was  honored  with  the  moderatorship  of  the  Pres- 
byterian General  Assembly  in  1861.  . 

Dr.  Condit  was  succeeded  by  Hubbard  Beebe,  a  native  of  Rich- 
mond, and  a  graduate  of  Williams  College  and  Andover  Theological 
Seminary;  ordained  October  18,  1837;  dismissed  March  21,1843. 
He  afterwards  became  the  Principal  of  Westfield  Academy  and  act- 
ing pastor  at  Chester  Factories  till  1848.  He  subsequently  occupied 
successive  pastorates  at  South  Wilbraham,  Sturbridge,  and  West 
Haven,  Conn.  For  the  last  twenty-four  years  of  his  active  life — 1855- 
79  he  has  been  in  the  service  of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union, 
the  American  Bible  Society,  and  the  American  Seaman's  Friend  Soci- 
ety, and  now,  laid  aside  by  failing  health,  resides  in  New  York  City. 

The  successor  of  Rev.  Hubbard  Beebe  was  Samuel  Wolcott,  a 
native  of  South  Windsor,  Conn.,  and  graduate  of  Yale  College  and 
Andover  Theological  Seminary.  He  was  installed  August  30,  1843, 
and  dismissed  December  27,  1847.  After  graduating  at  Andover  he 
became  for  two  years  an  assistant  of  the  secretaries  of  .the  A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.  at  Boston,  and  was  ordained  in  1839  as  a  missionary  for  Syria, 
where  he  remained  till  1843.  His  labors  in  the  Mount  Lebanon  re- 
gion, though  assiduous,  were  much  interrupted  by  the  civil  wars  that 
then  prevailed,  producing  an  unsettled  condition  of  affairs.  His 
archaeological  researches,  published  in  various  journals,  for  which  his 
travels  in  Syria  and  Palestine  gave  opportunity,  have  placed  his  repu- 
tation high  among  oriental  scholars,  and  his  poetic  skill  has  enriched 
our  American  hymnology.  Since  his  Longmeadow  ministry,  he  has 
occupied  the  pastorate  of  Belchertown,  the  High  Street  Church 
in  Providence,  R.  I.,  the  New  England  Church  in  Chicago,  111.,  and 
the  Plymouth  Church  in  Cleveland,  O.  His  recent  years  since  1874 
have  been  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  as  District  Secretary  for  Ohio,  Western  Pennsylvania,  and 
West  Virginia.  Having  resigned  that  work  he  is  about  to  remove 
from  Cleveland,  and  take  up  his  residence  in  Longmeadow  amid  the 
familiar  scenes  and  still  surviving  friendships  of  his  former  pastorate. 

The  ministries  of  both  Dr.  Wolcott  and  Mr.  Beebe  were  signalized 
by  several  seasons  of  revival  and  numerous  accessions  to  the  church. 

The  successor  of  Dr.  Wolcott  is  John  Wheeler  Harding,  the  pres- 
ent pastor,  a  native  of  Waltham,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  and 
Andover  Theological  Seminary,  who  was  ordained  January  i,  1850. 


RBV.  J.   B.   CONDIT,  D.D. 
1881—1835 


REV.   BAXTER  DICKINSON.  D.D. 

1823—1829. 


Rav.  J.  W.  HARDING. 
1850. 


RBV.  SAMUEL  WOLOOTT,  D.D. 
1843—1847. 


RKV.  HTTBBARD  BEEBB. 
1837—1843. 


255 


O.— LONGMEADOW  WOMEN. 

The  history  of  the  town  cannot  be  fairly  written  without  special 
mention  of  the  true-hearted  and  noble  women,  who  have,  in  every 
best  sense,  been  always  helpmeets  to  its  men.  And  not  alone  as 
wives  and  mothers.  The  single  women — the  Eunices,  the  Hannahs, 
the  Lucys,  the  Rhodas,  and  many  more  whom  these  familiar  names 
represent,  deserve  their  full  measure  of  grateful  and  enduring 
praise.  The  portrait  of  Mary  Raynolds  Schauffler  adorns  these  pages 
not  only  as  a  beautiful  personality,  but  as  a  pictorial  type  of  the  great 
.company  among  the  living  and  the  dead  who  shall  be  hailed  as 
"  blessed  among  women."  tfot,  indeed,  so  tangible  and  evident  their 
traces  as  those  of  masculine  endeavor,  nor  recorded  in  town  or  pre- 
cinct books,  in  buildings  and  highways  ;  but  theirs  the  gentler  and 
moulding  forces  of  the  hidden  kingdom  of  the  heart,  that  builded  the 
New  England  home  without  which  the  republic  had  never  been.  They 
were,  too,  every  whit  as  strenuous  workers  as  the  men.  Without  for- 
mal suffrage  their  personality  of  character  and  influence  was  entwined 
with  every  important  movement.  At  farthest  remove  from  the  play- 
things of  the  oriental  harem,  or  the  butterflies  of  luxurious  society,  or 
the  rude  peasantry  of  rural  districts  in  other  lands,  they  have  been 
from  the  earliest  times  intelligent,  self  poised,  well-bred  women  of 
affairs,  the  competent  mistresses  of  well-ordered  households,  distin- 
guished not  less  for  their  solid  virtues,  than  for  that  refinement  which 
adds  ladyhood  to  womanhood. 

While  every  Longmeadow  family  might  contribute  its  illustrations, 
a  few  must  stand  for  all  the  rest.  In  the  first  American  genealogy 
extant,  so  rare  that  only  two  copies  exist,  viz.,  of  the  family  of  Mr. 
Samuel  Stebbins,  and  Mrs.  Hannah  Stebbins,  from  1707  to  1771,  and 
printed  in  the  latter  year  at  Hartford  by  Ebenezer  Watson,  Luke  Steb- 
bins the  compiler  thus  writes  concerning  his  mother  : 

"  Nor  can  I  forget  the  mentioning  our  dear  and  honord  Mother,  by  whofe  mild, 
tender,  and  pious  care  we  were  fo  gently  nurfed  up ;  the  Labour  and  Travail  of 
which,  none  but  Mothers  can  tell.  Her  Piety,  Faithfulnefs,  Meeknefs  and  Patience 
make  her  memory  precious  to  us  all.  True  it  is,  that  through  a  feeble  Conftitution, 
together  with  the  Concern  and  Burden  that  naturally  lay  upon  her,  me  was  brought 
into  a  low  State  of  Health  till  by  Degrees  it  terminated  in  almoft  a  confirmed  State 
of  Melancholly ;  yet  it  never  prevented  her  devout  Attendance  on  all  the  outward 
Means  of  Grace,  both  public,  private,  and  fecret.  She  daily  read  much  in  the 'Holy 
Scriptures,  efpecially  the  New  Teftament,  the  Pfalms,  and  thofe  Prophets  that  wrote 
moft  of  Chrift.  She  never  neglected  any  opportunity  in  partaking  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, for  which  me  had  a  great  affeftion  and  Reverence.  But  yet  the  gloom  that 
33 


256 

fat  upon  her  mind  might  very  naturally  prevent  thofe  clear  views  of  the  Virtue  and 
Excellency  of  that  all  fufficient  Sacrifice,  which  JESUS  paid  once  for  all,  which  fhe 
had  in  a  better  State  of  Health  (as  fhe  expreffed  it  to  me).  One  thing  may  not  be 
improper  to  mention,  which  fhe  told  me,  viz:  When  the  Revd  Mr  Whitefield  (of 
precious  memory)  firft  came  to  New  England,  who  was  fo  famous,  and  whofe  preach- 
ing had  fo  much  fuccefs  attending  it,  fhe  was  in  great  Diftrefs,  knowing  her  bodily 
Health  was  fo  impaired  fhe  could  not  attend  on  his  preaching  when  he  fhould  come 
to  Springfield.  He  preached  at  the  old  Parifh  about  four  miles  from  Longmeadow, 
where  fhe  lived.  Thus  it  continued  for  feveral  Days  before  he  came ;  fhe  fearing 
being  left  while  others  were  taken,  or  Denied  that  Comfort  which  others  enjoyed. 
She  fought  unto  the  LORD,  and  fpread  her  Caufe  before  him,  who  was  pleafed  to 
give  an  Anfwer  of  Peace  ;  for  when  the  Day  came,  and  all  were  gone  to  hear  him  ; 
(Stephen  Williams  led  his  flock  in  welcoming  Whitefield)  fhe  had  Views  of  the 
Glory  of  JESUS  CHRIST,  and  a  comfortable  Hope  of  her  faving  Intereft  in  him  ;' 
and  thofe  bleffed  Words  came  to  her  with  animating  and  reviving  Power,  '  Daugh- 
ter, be  of  good  Cheer,  your  Sins  are  forgiven  you.' "  It  is  a  finifhing  touch  to  this 
fketch  of  his  mother  when  he  continues  thus :  "  It  was  this  weak  State  of  her's  that 
gave  Occafion  for  that  peculiar  Tendernefs,  Wifdom  and  Prudence  exercifed  by  our 
honord  Father  towards  her.  What  Coft  did  he  fpare  ?  What  Pains  did  he  not  take 
to  comfort  and  relieve,  to  counfel  and  advife  ?  A  great  Deal  of  Time  he  fpent  in 
reading  to  her  fome  of  the  beft  Authors,  on  fubjects  moft  adapted  to  her  prefent 
Cafe ;  among  which  was  a  Book  of  the  Revd  and  famous  Mr  Baxter's,  one  of  the 
moftfuitable  in  Cafes  of  Melancholy  perhaps  of  any  now  extant." 

It  must  be  said  that,  so  far  as  their  letters  and  diaries  testify — the 
only  literature  they  have  .  handed  down — these  excellent  women  were 
considerably  given  to  somber  views.  And  yet  this  impression  may  be 
owing  in  part  to  a  fashion  that  prevailed  in  those  days  of  interlarding 
all  epistolary  and  even  business  documents  with  more  or  less  of  pious 
phraseology. 

The  following  extracts  are  from  a  letter  of  twenty  pages  of  closely- 
written  manuscript,  carefully  covered  and  stitched  in  pamphlet  form, 
and  inscribed  upon  the  title  page  in  ornamented  letters, 

"NATHAN  WILLIAMS,  HIS  PAPER  &  LETTER,"  1746. 

Various  juvenile  pictorial  devices  upon  the  same  page  show  the 
tender  age  of  the  child,  then  only  n  years  old,  to  whom  these  plead- 
ings of  a  mother's  heart  were  addressed.  Preserved,  however,  and 
pondered  by  him  with  filial  reverence,  they  bore  fruit  in  riper  years, 
when  the  boy  had  become,  as  did  several  of  his  brothers,  the  reverend 
minister  and  Doctor  of  Divinity.  The  letter  is  a  sample  of  many 
similar  maternal  wrestlings  of  New  England  foremothers  with  a  cove- 
nant God  in  behalf  of  beloved  children. 

It  is  quoted  at  what  might  otherwise  seem  a  disproportionate  length 
because  it  also  forcibly  illustrates  the  burdens  and  heart-struggles  laid 
on  such  a  true  mother  heart  by  the  unscriptural  dogmas  of  the  then 


257 

current  theology  ;  especially  that  terrible  tenet  that  one  should  be  con- 
sciously willing  to  be  forever  lost,  and  even  to  see  one's  dearest  friends 
forever  lost  for  the  glory  of  God. 
MY  DEAR  SON: 

In  what  frame  thefe  lines  may  find  you  I  Know  not  but  I  can  affure  you  they  are 
the  overflowings  of  a  heart  full  of  motherly  affections  to  you,  and  of  tender  con- 
cern for  your  beft  Intereft  of  Soul  and  Body  for  Time  and  Eternity.  I  truft  it  is 
from  God  that  I  am  Inclined  to  Get  this  Letter  Writ  and  that  his  Bleffed  Spirit  will 
direcl:  in  the  inditing  of  it  and  accompany  the  fame  in  his  good  Time  to  your  Heart, 
if  it  mould  not  make  fo  deep  an  Impreffion  at  prefent,  yet  the  time  may  come  when 
fome  of  the  laft  Counfels  of  your  dying  Mother  will  feem  quite  otherwife  to  you  than 
they  have  hitherto  done. 

After  admonishing  her  son  of  the  danger  of  his  own  early  death, 
and  assuring  him  of  her  unspeakable  joy  if  he  should  become  early 
converted,  and  narrating  to  him  some  of  her  own  experiences  of  God's 
supporting  grace  under  severest  trials,  and  of  her  sense  of  His  good- 
ness to  her  in  many  family  mercies,  including  His  giving  to  her  this 
latest  son,  she  continues  : 

O,  My  dear  Child.  Can  I  Bear  the  thoughts  that  the  Son  that  was  given  me  in 
anfwer  to  my  Prayers,  that  I  bore  with  fo  much  pain,  that  I  have  nurfed  and  brought 
up  with  So  much  care  and  tendernefs  night  and  day,  The  Son  that  I  have  fo  many 
Thoufand  Times  prayed  and  wept  over  and  counfelled  and  warned,  That  this  beloved 
Son,  I  fay  Should  be  the  poffeflion  and  property  of  the  devil,  Should  ferve  him  all 
his  Days  and  be  miferable  as  he  is  and  be  with  him  in  hell  fire  forever,  how  can  I 
bear  to  think  of  ye  dreadful  day  when  I  mail  See  my  poor  undone  Child  if  he  turn 
not  Speedily  and  thoroughly,  Stand  trembling  before  the  Judgment  Seat  of  Chrift 
his  face  gathering  blackness  horror  and  anguifh,  and  defpair  Staring  through  his 
Eyelids  to  hear  ye  Amazing  Sentence  pronounced  on  him  depart  ye  curfed  hence- 
forth to  See  him  Seized  by  mighty  Angels,  bound  hand  and  foot  in  everlafting  Chains 
and  caft  Into  ye  dreadful  lake  of  Fire,  and  the  adamant  Gates  (hut  and  barred  by 
him  that  Shuts  and  no  man  opens.  Such  thoughts  as  thefe  are  ready  to  tear  my 

heart  in  pieces I  know  if  I  be  fo  happy  as  to  find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in 

that  day  I  fhall  have  no  painful  Sympathy  with  you  but  Shall  rather  rejoice  that 
God's  Juftice  and  power  will  be  forever  glorified  in  your  Condemnation ;  but  how  will 
your  heart  Endure  how  can  your  hands  be  flrong.  I  know  you  have  often  heard  these 
things  and  had  Them  Set  Forth  before  you  in  a  far  more  affeclionable  manner 
than  it  is  poffible  for  me  to  reprefent  them.  I  know  too  if  I  had  been  in  ye  other 
world  and  feen  the  terrors  and  Glories  of  heaven  and  hell  with  my  Bodily  Eyes  and 
were  Come  Back  again  with  the  tongue  of  an  angel  to  fpeak  of  them  to  you  it  would 
have  no  Saving  effect.  If  you  hear  not  Mofes  and  the  prophets  neither  will  you  be  per- 
fuaded  though  one  arofe  from  the  dead.  But  I  know,  y*  if  the  good  Spirit  of  God 
is  pleafed  to  accompany  my  words  to  your  heart  they  will  do  you  more  good  than  all 
you  have  heard  in  your  Life  before.  You  know  by  Sad  and  Long  experience  how 
little  all  the  beft  of  means  Signify  without  the  Powerful  Co-operation  of  ye  Spirit 
and  you  know  too  by  Some  Experiences  how  means  work,  how  a  perfon  feels  when 
ye  word  is  Set  home  upon  the  Soul  by  the  Spirit  in  a  way  of  conviction  and  Terror ; 
oh  that  you  knew  alfo  what  this  work  of  Regeneration  is  that  I  am  aiming  at  fo  as  to 
make  you  fenfible  how  much  your  dependence  Is  on  ye  Sovereign  and  free  Spirit  of 


258 

God.  Ye  Life  and  death  of  your  Precious  Soul  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  A6ls  with  Ab- 
folute  Liberty  Like  the  wind  which  bloweth  where  and  whither  it  Lifteth.  and  fee- 
ing it  thus  I  would  fain  have  you  think  Solemnly  how  much  it  concerns  you  to  take 
heed  you  don't  provoke  the  Spirit  finally  to  Forfake  you  for  then  your  cafe  is  as  bad 
you  know  as  if  you  were  already  in  hell.  This  I  hope  and  truft  is  not  yet ;  Alfo 
if  I  knew  it  were  I  fhould  have  nothing  to  fay  to  you  About  your  Soul  only  to  cau- 
tion you  not  to  fill  up  a  greater  meafure  of  Sin  and  to  Increafe  your  treafure  of 
wrath  Againft  the  day  of  wrath,  but  I  hope  better  things  Concerning  you,  and  things 
that  Accompany  A  Poffibility  of  Salvation.  I  truft  your  day  of  Grace  is  not  over  and 
that  the  Spirit  of  Grace  has  not  yet  finally  left  you  and  oh  for  your  Soul's  Sake  do 
nothing  to  grieve  him  away.  Lay  afide  every  wait,  and  ye-S5n  that  moft  Eafily  befets 
you.  I  need  not  tell  you  what  it  is.  Confcience  poipts  it  out  while  you  are  reading 
thefe  lines,  if  it  be  not  afleep.  Do  my  dear  Child,  Stir  up  yourfelf,  Shake  off  Sloth 
and  difcouragement,  and  get  up,  and  be  doing,  you  don't  know  how  foon  A  merciful 
God  who  delights  not  in  the  death  of  a  Sinner  but  had  rather  he  fhould  turn  and 
live,  may  appear  to  you  and  work  Effectually  on  your  Soul. 

After  cautioning  her  son  against  certain  suggestions  of  discourage- 
ment from  Satan,  and  setting  before  him  all  the  encouragements  he 
should  have  to  resolve  on  God's  service,  and  suggesting  to  him  some 
sentences  of  high  and  holy  resolution,  she  continues  : 

Some  fuch  Language  I  would  fain  imagine  I  hear  you  breathing  out  in  your  Solic- 
itous hours.  And  may  the  Father  of  Mercies  hear  your  Meditations.  May  he  come 
by  his  Bleffed  Spirit,  Awaken  you,  convince,  humble,  convert,  and  Sanclify  you. 
Amen.  Lord  grant  this  for  thy  dear  Son's  Sake  Amen  Amen. 

Assuming  him  now  to  have  resolved  thus,  she  goes  on  to  give  him 
the  most  tender  and  earnest  counsel  as  to  his  future  Christian  life,  in 
words  of  richest  and  ripest  Christian  experience,  a  part  of  which,  in 
justice  to  her,  we  cannot  forbear  to  quote  : 

If  then  you  fhould  be  fo  inexpreffibly  happy  as  to  receive  the  Lord  Jefus  into  your 
heart  by  faith  Oh  be  Careful  to  walk  in  him.  You  muft  be  continually  coming  to 
him  Every  Day  and  hour  of  your  life.  You  muft  live  upon  him  every  moment — he 
muft  be  your  Life,  your  Light,  your  Joy,  your  truft,  your  wifdom,  your  righteoufnefs, 
sanclification  and  everything.  You  muft  never  reft  without  Daily  Communion  with 
him  and  communication  from  him.  If  he  withdraws  from  you  at  any  time  and  hides 
his  face  you  muft  mourn  after  him  and  Seek  him  Sorrowing  and  let  Nothing  Elfe 
Content  or  Satiffy  you. 

If  ever  you  truly  believe  in  Chrift  you  will  give  up  all  you  are  and  have  and  can 
do  unto  him  and  you  will  only  wait  to  know  how  he  will  have  you  difpofe  of  all  for 
him.  You  will  confider  yourfelf  a  Steward  of  what  God  gives  you  and  you  will  be 
bountiful  and  liberal  to  fuch  as  you  know  the  Lord  has  made  his  receivers.  You 
muft  live  in  Love.  This  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law 

You  will  have  many  better  Counfellors  than  your  poor  Mother,  but  I  prefume  you 
will  take  particular  notice  of  what  comes  from  her.  I  beg  you  to  take  thefe  as  the 
laft  words  of  your  dying  Mother  and  which  are  the  copy  of  her  very  heart  and  foul 
as  it  works  toward  her  dear  Son.  I  break  off  My  dear  Child  leaving  you  with  a  God 
infinitely  able  and  willing  to  do  for  you  above  what  I  can  afk  or  think.  I  fubfcribe 
myfelf  your  moft  Affectionate  and  Solicitous  Mother, 

A.  D.  W.,        [ABIGAIL  DAVENPORT  WILLIAMS.] 


259 

The  womanly  piety  of  the  former  days  was  specially  characterized 
by  a  certain  awe-compelling  view  of  the  divine  sovereignty.  It  was 
the  great  Jehovah  veiled  by  clouds  and  darkness,  rather  than  Jesus  sit- 
ting by  the  well.  One  of  the  sweetest  and  most  saintly  of  the  Long- 
meadow  women  was  Sarah  Williston  Storrs.  Loving,  gentle,  full  of 
tenderness  and  sympathy,  the  grace  that  she  seemed  to  be  grasping 
after  most  was  submission,  rather  than  hope.  And  yet  through  that 
gate  of  submission  hope  entered  unawares.  At  the  age  of  30,  on  a 
Communion  Sabbath,  she  wrote, — 

"  I  have  this  day  been  allowed  a  feat  in  God's  houie  and  a  place  at  his  table.  He 
has  fhined  in  fuch  a  manner  upon  my  foul  as  perfectly  tranfported  me  efpecially  in 
receiving  the  fame.  I  have  long  been  pleading  for  a  fealed  pardon, — a  clean,  white 
robe,  and  white  raiment ;  and  if  he  had  been  there  in  perfon,  and  told  me  with  his  own 
mouth,  and  confirmed  it  by  an  oath,  that  thefe  my  defires  were  granted,  I  could  not 
have  been  more  fure.  The  ordinance,  fomehow,  was  enough, — a  sufficient  tefti- 
mony  or  pledge.  I  cannot  exprefs  the  gratitude,  the  joy,  the  amazement,  the  afton- 
ifhment  of  my  foul  on  a  view  of  his  grace,  condefcenfion,  and  mercy  in  this  bleffed 
inftitution,  this  plan  of  atonement !  I  longed  to  fulfil  my  part  of  the  covenant.  I 
longed  to  live  holinefs,  to  feel  it  and  ac~l  it  out,  in  every  breath  and  thought.  Oh 
that  love  !  let  it  ever  and  forever  conftrain  me  to  love  ;  let  thy  grace,  O  bleffed  God, 
be  fufficient !  Subdue,  captivate,  regulate,  mortify,  and  break  in  pieces  as  Thou 
pleafeft;  only  effect  the  work!  I  cannot  be  denied;  and  Thou  wilt  not  deny  me.  I 
am  fure  Thy  Word  has  gone  forth  ;  '  He  that  believeth  mail  be  faved.'  I  can  appeal 
to  Thine  omnifcience,  and  believe  Thy  promife.  I  know  that  '  ftrait  is  the  gate  and 
narrow  is  the  way  that  leads  to  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it.'  But,  glory  to  God  ! 
I  hope  I  am  one  of  that  number.  This  ardent  love,  this  longing  of  the  foul  after 
perfect  enjoyment,  is  a  full  teftimony  to  tnyfelf  that  he  will  enlighten  the  dark  valley, 
and  bid  me  a  joyful  welcome  into  his  prefence  on  high  !  Oh  that  ftate,  that  world  ! 
I  cannot  but  now  join  your  Chorus  !  How  fweet  are  your  employments  1  Eternity  ! 
Eternity  !  Oh  delightful  thought  !  always  wrapped  up  and  growing  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  great  Jehovah.  Oh  bleffed,  bleffed  work !  This  is  my  God ;  and  He 
will  be  my  portion  forever." 

The  long  and  useful  life  of  Sarah  Williams  Storrs,  the  second  wife 
of  Pastor  Storrs  and  the  granddaughter  of  Pastor  Williams,  perhaps 
as  well  illustrates  those  womanly  and  Christian  virtues  which  were 
most  truly  characteristic  of  our  Longmeadow  foremothers  as  do  the 
intensities  of  Christian  fervor  already  quoted  ;  while  her  continuous 
residence  in  Longmeadow,  from  her  birth  to  her  burial,  makes  her 
somewhat  more  truly  their  real  representative.  The  following  tribute 
to  her  character  is  from  the  pen  of  one  to  whom  she  became  and  for 
many  years  remained  a  tenderly  loved  and  honored  second  mother — 
Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  of  Braintree  : 


26o 

To  all  who  knew  her,  her  gentleness,  purity  of  sentiment,  strength  of  affection, 
and  ynwearied  assiduity  in  promoting  the  happiness  of  others,  were  at  once  appar- 
ent. As  a  wife,  mother,  sister,  friend,  and  follower  of  Jesus,  she  aimed,  habitually 
and  successfully,  to  keep  a  conscience  void  of  offence  by  responding  promptly  to 
every  call  of  duty,  whatever  personal  sacrifice  or  self-denial  it  involved.  During 
the  almost  twenty-seven  years  of  her  widowhood,  trusting  in  her  own  and  her 
father's  God,  she  sustained  the  trials  of  her  condition  with  fortitude,  discharged  her 
duties  with  cheerfulness,  and  diffused  around  her  the  sweet  influences  of  a  matured 
and  unostentatious  piety. 

Nor  is  it  more  true  that  she  loved,  than  that  she  was  beloved.  From  her  birth 
she  had  dwelt  among  her  own  people — the  people  of  her  husband's  charge.  All 
knew  her  well,  and  all  testified  their  high  esteem,  through  the  whole  period  of  her 
widowed  loneliness,  by  many  and  substantial  tokens  ; — it  was  beyond  all  her  expec- 
tations, even  as  it  was  far  beyond  the  experience  of  most  who  are  placed  in  similar 
circumstances  of  bereavement.  Gratitude  and  affection  prompted  her  to  ascribe  it 
to  the  uncommon  veneration  and  love  cherished  for  her  husband's  memory — but  a 
cordial  esteem  for  human  excellence  of  character  had  far  more  to  do  with  it  than 
her  humility  permitted  her  to  acknowledge.  A  case  like  this,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  of 
rare  occurrence — where  for  so  many  years,  and  amid  so  many  changes  of  the  minis- 
try, so  tender  and  unremitting  regard  has  been  shown  to  the  widow  of  a  deceased 
pastor.  Among  the  four  pastors  who  have  successively  occupied  the  pulpit  of 
her  husband,  each  has  cordially  united  with  the  people  in  their  efforts  to  comfort  the 
widow's  heart  by  kind  words,  and  by  the  charity  that  never  faileth.  For  such  a 
people  and  such  pastors,  heaven  has  rich  rewards  in  store,  in  which  coming  genera- 
tions shall  share. 

Beyond  their  home  influence,  the  women  of  Longmeadow  have 
been  represented  on  three  continents  by  their  missionary  zeal.  The 
Schaufflers,  Calhouns,  Temples,  Raynoldses,  Blisses,  all  eminent  mis- 
sionary names  are  interwoven  in  descent  through  various  lines  with 
pastors  Williams  and  Storrs,  and  deacons  Nathaniel  Ely,  Samuel 
Raynolds,  and  Ebenezer  Bliss.  There  was  nothing  singular  that 
these  particular  individuals  went  abroad.  It  was  only  significant  of 
the  missionary  spirit  and  training  of  their  home  life. 

Mrs.  William  Gottlieb  Schauffler,  who  may  well  stand  in  these  pages 
as  a  missionary  representative,  was  the  great  grand-daughter  of  Stephen 
Williams,  and  the  daughter  of  deacon  Samuel  Raynolds.  She  was 
born  in  1802,  in  the  house  of  deacon  Nathaniel  Ely.  For  a  while  a 
teacher  in  New  Haven,,  her  cousin,  Martha  Temple,  having  departed 
as  the  bride  of  Rev.  Daniel  Temple,  missionary  to  Greece,  she  caught 
the  missionary  impulse,  and  went  to  Constantinople  with  the  family 
of  Rev.  Josiah  Brewer,  the  first  unmarried  missionary  who  entered 
the  foreign  field.  She  was  the  pioneer  of  that  system  of  female 
education  which  has  proved  one  of  the  most  benign  fruits  of  gospel  influ- 


26 1 

ence  in  the  Orient.  In  1834  she  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  W.  G. 
Schauffler  and  has  been  identified  through  her  long  and  useful  life 
with  his  distinguished  missionary  career  in  the  Turkish  and  Austrian 
Empires. 

As  a  representative  woman  among  the  unmarried  sisterhood,  the 
name  of  Miss  Hannah  Ely  will  readily  occur  to  every  Longmeadow 
resident  of  the  past  century.  Like  most  others  of  that  honorable 
sisterhood  she  was  a  "  spinster  "  in  the  happiest  sense  of  the  word  ; 
receiving  her  investiture  as  such  at  the  old  time  spinning  wheel,  to 
whose  homely  accompaniment  the  maidens  of  old  sang  as  cheerily  as 
do  those  of  the  present  day  to  piano  or  guitar.  None  the  less,  how- 
ever, could  she  boast  her  accomplishments  of  painting  and  embroidery, 
and  move  with  all  the  old  time  dignity  and  grace  through  the  mazes 
of  the  minuet  and  quadrille. 

Her  mother's  failing  health  devolved  on  this  eldest  daughter  a  mat- 
ron's full  share  of  housewifery,  and  her  taste  and  skill  found  congenial 
development  in  making  home  really  "  sweet  home."  For  a  while  her 
accomplishments  in  the  higher  education  found  appropriate  scope  as 
the  popular  preceptress  of  Monson  Academy.  Returning  to  her  shin- 
ing vocation  as  mistress  of  the  mansion  of  her  widowed  father,  she 
became  and  remained  to  him  the  chief  stay  and  support  of  his  declining 
years.  When  age  had  withdrawn  him  from  active  service  in  church  and 
parish  and  town,  the  filial  and  devoted  ministrations  of  his  "  Hannah  " 
made  the  secluded  evening  of  his  life  pass  serene  and  contented  to  its 
close. 

For  many  years  after  her  father's  death  which  occurred  in  1848  she 
continued,  as  sole  mistress  of  the  old  Ely  mansion,  to  dispense  the 
most  generous  and  graceful  hospitalities.  Her  competent  means,  the 
ample  accommodations  of  the  old  mansion,  and  her  own  executive 
tact  as  its  accomplished  mistress  made  it  a  chosen  center  of  hospita- 
ble attraction,  and  a  favorite  resort  for  ministerial  candidates  and 
numerous  other  guests,  and  for  the  large  family  circle  of  brothers,  sisters, 
nephews,  and  neices  to  whom  she  was  ever  the  beloved  and  loving 
"  Auntie  ;  "  the  single  word  that  is  placed  upon  her  headstone  as  most 
fitting  to  summon  up  a  host  of  memories  almost  as  precious  as  if 
"  Mother  "  stood  in  its  place.  The  church,  the  benevolent  and  social 
institutions,  everything  wise  and  good  in  the  village  stood  identified 
with  the  large  heart,  judicious  counsel,  and  helping  hand  of  Hannah 
Ely. 


262 


P.— INSTITUTIONS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

The  germinal  institution  of  this,  as  of  other  New  England 
Towns,  was  the  family — the  intelligent,  independent,  and  reverent 
household.  The  families  were  large,  numbering  from  eight  to  fifteen 
children ;  second  and  even  third  marriages  were  not  uncommon,  and 
divorces  were  unknown.  The  next  institution,  in  order  of  time,  was 
the  civil  compact  of  the  town  or  precinct  meeting ;  and  that  was  for 
the  prudential  ordering  and  maintenance  of  the  common  welfare — a 
little  republic  in  itself.  The  Meeting-House,  not  an  ecclesiastical 
edifice  alone,  but  a  civil  one  as  well,  is  first  erected,  and  without  un- 
necessary delay  a  "  learned  and  orthodox  minister  "  is  chosen  as  the 
indispensable  spiritual  leader — the  spiritual  interests  leading  all  the 
rest.  The  schoolmaster  is  his  right-hand  man ;  perhaps  "  Master 
Jabe,"  Yale  graduate,  classical  teacher,  and  theological  expert,  capa- 
ble of  training  divinity  students,  as  Jabez  Colton  sometimes  did  ;  or 
perhaps  some  collegian  who  occupies  his  long  winter  vacation  or  his 
post-graduate  year  in  conducting  the  public  school.  Another  valua- 
ble coadjutor  is  the  village  doctor;  it  maybe  Dr.  Charles  Pynchon. 
"  This  day  " — a  rate  day — writes  Stephen  Williams,  "  I  have  been 
reckoning  with  Dr.  Pynchon,  who  is  very  ingenious  and  handsome. 
The  Lord  be  pleased  to  reward  his  kindness.  I  am  exceedingly  well 
pleased  with  this  gentleman's  being  in  the  neighborhood."  He  some- 
times assists  his  pastor  in  the  public  services,  delivering  his  own  med- 
itations. 

A  community  thus  manned  and  equipped  must  have,  besides  the 
family,  church,  and  school,  corresponding  institutions  of  various  kinds. 
We  find  in  the  handwriting  of  Master  Jabe,  "  Rules  and  Regulations 
of  the  Longmeadow  Library  Society."  This  is  the  preamble  : 

"  The  Improvement  of  the  Mind  in  Knowledge  and  Virtue  is  the  most  important 
Object  of  Humane  Pursuit  and  most  easily  obtained  by  the  Perusal  of  instructive 
Books.  And  as  the  expense  of  a  valuable  Collection  of  these  is  too  great  for  most 
persons  in  their  individual  Capacity  ;  We  the  Subscribers,  Inhabitants  of  the  Town 
of  Longmeadow,  having  heretofore  formed  ourselves  in  Some  sort  into  a  Society  by 
contributing  a  Sum  of  Money  and  purchasing  a  Considerable  Collection  of  Valua- 
ble Books,  and  being  sensible  of  the  Deficiency  of  our  former  Rules  and  Regula- 
tions ;  We  therefore  Do  unite  Ourselves  into  a  New  and  Voluntary  Association  for 
the  purpose  of  better  Regulating,  Maintaining,  and  increasing  our  Library  for  the 
Benefit  of  ourselves  and  those  who  may  hereafter  become  Proprietors  in  the  Same." 
Then  follow  sixteen  articles  about  as  elaborate  as  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  in  Master  Jabe's  best  legal  style.  One  provides  that  the  librarian,  who  is 
entitled  to  such  compensation  on  library  days  as  the  Standing  Committee  shall 
judge  reasonable,  "shall  give  notice  of  the  Time  to  receive  the  Books"  (from  9  A.M. 


263 

to  2  P.M.  with  two  hours'  grace  for  those  who  live  more  than  two  miles  away)  "  and 
of  the  Time  of  drawing  Books"  (from  5  P.M.  to  8  P.M.)  "by  causing  the  Meeting 
House  Bell  to  be  rung  at  said  times."  It  is  also  provided  that  "  No  Book  shall  be 
delivered  to  any  Proprietor  but  by  an  audible  mentioning  of  the  Title  ;  and  the  Pro- 
prietor who  shall  first  signify  his  desire  of  the  Book  so  mentioned  shall  receive  it 
unless  some  other  Proprietor  desire  the  same.  And  if  two  or  more  Proprietors  are 
desirous  of  receiving  the  same  Book,  it  shall  be  set  up  at  Auction,  and  the  Highest 
Bidder  shall  have  the  same  upon  paying  the  Money  so  Bid  to  the  Treasurer  ;  pro- 
vided however  that  the  desire  or  Bid  of  any  Proprietor  shall  be  considered  of  none 
effect  if  the  Price  of  the  Book  desired  or  Bid  for  together  with  the  price  or  prices  of 
the  Book  or  Books  already  received  by  the  Proprietor  desiring  or  Bidding  shall  ex- 
ceed such  Proprietor's  share  or  shares  in  the  Library."  .  ..."  If  any  Proprietor 
shall  neglect  to  return  his  Books  by  the  times  limited  he  shall  pay  at  the  following 
rates — viz :  For  a  Folio,  eight  pence  ;  a  Quarto,  six  pence ;  an  Octavo,  four  pence ; 
a  Duodecimo,  two  pence;  and  the  like  sum  or  sums  for  his  neglect  at  each  succeed- 
ing Return  day  till  the  same  are  returned." 

If  the  proprietors  became  too  dilatory  a  wagon  was  sent  around  to  gather  in  the 
books.  Ponderous  books  they  were  in  general,  bound  in  heavy  calf,  and  having  no 
remotest  resemblance  to  the  dime  novel  of  the  present  day,  such  as  "  The  Specta- 
tor," "  Flavel's  Fountain  of  Life,"  "  Memoirs  and  Writings  of  Dr.  Robert  South," 
"  England's  Reformation  :  A  Poem,"  "  Child's  Friend." 

This  association  died  in  the  process  of  time  of  folios,  dry  rot  and 
an  auction.  Its  successor,  the  "  Young  Men's  Library  Association," 
formed  December  16,  1839,  with  Simeon  Newell  librarian,  and  Dia- 
mond Chandler,  the  next  year  assistant  librarian,  James  Bliss,  Wil- 
liam Burt,  Alford  Cooley,  Samuel  C.  Stebbins,  committee,  was  dis- 
couraged by  the  fire  that  consumed  the  library  with  the  old  brick 
school-house  in  1852.  It  however  revived  October  9,  1854,  through  a 
union  that  was  then  consummated  with  the  Longmeadow  Lyceum,  Dr. 
T.  L.  Chapman  President,  D.  E.  Burbank  Vice-President,  W.  E.  Boies 
Secretary,  S.  C.  Newell  Treasurer,  J.  W.  Lawton  Librarian.  The 
Lyceum  has  become  extinct,  but  the  library  still  exists  in  a  state  of 
suspended  animation. 

The  town  meeting,  with  which  the  previous  precinct  meeting  was 
to  most  intents  identical,  was  an  invaluable  training  school  for  the 
rights,  duties,  and  privileges  of  American  citizenship ;  the  votes  re- 
corded in  another  section  of  the  Appendix  are  a  sufficient  illustration. 
Dr.  Williams,  or  some  other  clergyman  of  Springfield,  was  invited  not 
only  to  open  the  town  meeting  with  prayer,  but  to  preach  a  sermon. 
The  opening  prayer  is  still  retained  as  a  Longmeadow  custom.  At 
the  request  of  the  moderator,  with  uncovered  heads,  the  citizejis  rev- 
erently acknowledge  their  need  of  the  divine  wisdom. 

Dr.  Williams  writes,  March  20,  1759,  "  !  went  to  town  and  preached  y« 
sermon  to  y*  inhabitants  ;  ye  Lord  be  pleased  to  help  his  people  aright  to 
34 


264 

improve  ye  privileges,  and  graciously  help  those  y1  have  ye  conduct  of  y* 
publick  affairs  of  the  Town."  His  text  on  this  occasion  was  Ps.  xxix  :  9 — 
"  The  meek  will  He  guide  in  judgment  and  the  meek  will  He  teach  His 
way."  It  was  a  practical  and  searching  homily  on  pride  and  its  concomi- 
tant vices,  extravagance,  self-seeking  and  idleness  ;  an  excellent  civil  ser- 
vice reform  tract  for  the  times.  "  Pride,"  said  the  good  parson,  "is  a  most 
impatient  vice  and  can  bear  nothing Accustom  yourselves  to  can- 
dour and  take  everything  in  the  best  sense.  Why  should  you  suppose  your 
neighbor  desirous  to  affront  you,  when  really,  he  had  not  the  least  thought 
of  it  ?  " 

The  "  Charity  Meeting "  was  the  vigorous  tree  early  planted  and 
assiduously  nurtured,  from  which  have  branched  out  the  various  benev- 
olent organizations  that  for  the  last  half  century  have  been  combined 
in  the  "  Longmeadow  Benevolent  Association,"  connected  with  the  old 
parish,  and  in  similar  institutions  that  have  sprung  from  the  same  good 
seed  in  other  parts  of  the  town.  More  than  $40,000  have  been  dis- 
bursed in  various  forms  of  charity  by  this  society  alone. — The  Thanks- 
giving collection  for  the  poor  is  of  ancient  origin. — "  Women's  Boards  " 
are  nothing  new,  as  the  following  document  will  testify  : 
To  Mrs.  Rev.  R.  S.  STORRS,  Longmeadow — DEAR  MADAM  : 

The  Committee  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Hampshire  Missionary  Society,  take  the 
liberty  of  transmitting  to  you,  a  plan  of  a  FEMALE  ASSOCIATION  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  a  fund,  for  the  purchase  and  charitable  distribution  of  the  Holy  Bible  and 
other  pious  Christian  writings  among  the  needy  inhabitants  of  the  new  settlements 

of  the  United  States Benevolent  and  devout  women,  liberally  ministered  to 

our  Lord's  necessities  when  he  was  here  on  Earth.  Many  such,  now,  minister  to 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  necessities  of  his  disciples  and  friends  while  he  is  in 
heaven.  This  he  receives  and  rewards  as  a  kindness  done  to  himself. 

Various  Associations  of  this  or  a  similar  nature  are,  already,  instituted  by  the  vir- 
tues of  your  sex  in  New  England  and  have  done  and  continue  to  do  eminent  service 
to  our  blessed  religion. 

We  solicit  you,  dear  Madam,  to  be  an  active  instrument  of  our  divine  Redeemer 
by  sending  the  truths  of  his  life-giving  word  among  the  poor  and  suffering  inhabit- 
ants of  our  New  Settlements. 

The  Committee  flatter  themselves,  that  the  cause  of  Jesus  will  obtain  material  aid 
by  the  benevolent  exertions  of  the  liberal  and  pious  women  ip  our  town ;  and  believe 
that  the  approbation  of  your  own  consciences  and  the.  tender  mercies  of  our  blessed 
Redeemer  will  be  your  rich  and  abundant  reward.  With  sentiments  of  esteem,  we 
are,  Dear  Madam,  your  humble  servants, 

JOSEPH  LYMAN,  SOLOMON  WILLIAMS,  WILLIAM  BILLINGS,  CHARLES  PHELPS, 

Westhampton,  Aug.  9,  1803.  ENOCH  HALE,  Committee. 

This  appeal  resulted  in  a  Female  Association  "of  women,  either 
married  or  single,  who  shall  subscribe  our  Articles  " — the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  was  the  pledge  of  each  subscriber  to  pay  one  cent  a 
week,  or  fifty  cents  by  the  year  for  the  charitable  purposes  above  men- 


265 

tioned.  Sally  Storrs  is  the  leading  subscriber,  followed  by  Flavia 
Field,  Anna  Hale,  Abigail  Corkins,  Lydia  Field,  Lydia  Field,  Jr., 
Jemima  Woolworth,  Sebria  Cooley,  Kezia  Steele,  Mercy  Cooley,  Anne 
Hale,  Eunice  Cooley,  Freelove  Chandler,  Betsy  Williams,  Polly  Avery, 
Hannah  Perkins,  Urania  Stebbins,  Lydia  Field,  Eunice  Cooley,  Jr., 
Polly  Marble,  and  others,  the  vanguard  of  over  200  members,  who 
during  the  twenty-two  years  that  elapsed  before  the  association  became 
merged  into  the  present  "  Ladies  Benevolent  Association,"  raised  and 
expended  for  their  charitable  work  $884.03. 

The  Washington  Benevolent  Society  of  Hampden  County,  institu- 
ted April  27,  1812,  John  Hooker  President,  Edmund  Bliss  Secretary, 
had  a  considerable  and  highly  respectable  membership  in  Long- 
meadow.  Its  badge — a  portrait  of  Washington  being  crowned  with  a 
laurel  wreath  by  a  female  angel  blowing  a  trumpet — with  the  motto, 
"  Pro  Patria,"  was  accompanied  by  a  little  volume  containing  each 
member's  certificate  and  Washington's  Farewell  Address,  handsomely 
printed  by  Thomas  Dickman  of  Springfield,  editor  of  the  Federal  Spy. 
It  confined  its  "benevolence,"  so  far  as  appears,  to  promoting  the 
interests  of  the  Hamilton-Ames  or  Federal  party  of  that  day,  as  wrest- 
ling hard  with  the  Jeffersonian  or  Republican  party. 

The  first  Temperance  Society  in  Longmeadow  was  organized  in 
August,  1828  ;  Elisha  Burnham  President,  Captain  Elijah  Colton  Vice- 
President,  Dr.  Hiram  Bliss  Secretary ;  Rev.  Baxter  Dickinson,  Ethan 
Ely,  Esq.,  Dea.  Samuel  Raynolds,  Major  William  Burt  Directors.  It 
started  with  large  membership  and  much  enthusiasm  on  the  following 
basis.  "  No  member  shall — except  as  medicine  in  cases  of  sickness 
— use  any  distilled  spirits  in  ordinary  cases,  or  furnish  any  for  laborers 
in  his  employ."  It  continued  with  occasional  revivals  of  interest,  but 
on  the  whole  in  diminishing  ratio,  till  April  8,  1841,  when  it  expired. 

In  1842  a  new  Temperance  Society  was  formed,  Chauncey  Baker 
President ;  Carlos  Nichols,  Adolphus  D.  Kent,  James  Bennet,  and 
John  Burt  Vice- Presidents  ;  Samuel  C.  Stebbins  Secretary.  It  was 
called  "  The  Longrheadow  Washingtonian  Society,"  and  organized  on 
the  total  abstinence  pledge  :  "  We  will  not  drink  any  spirituous  or  malt 
liquors,  wine  or  cider  as  a  beverage  ;  "  signed  by  130  males  and  145 
females,  of  whom  there  are  living  at  present  nineteen  males  and  eigh- 
teen females.  A  review  of  these  names  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
pledge  is  not  apt  to  remain  in  permanent  force,  unless  sustained  by 
religious  obligations.  The  final  record  of  this  society  is  dated  Novem- 
ber 19,  1845. 


266 

A  "  Thief  Detecting  Society  "  became  necessary  at  one  period,  and 
particularly  because  of  the  propensity — not  yet  altogether  extinguished 
— to  steal  watermelons,  which  were  extensively  raised  and  of  choice 
quality.  The  watermelon  thieves  were  so  alert  that  it  required  con- 
siderable adroitness  to  catch  them.  One  moonlit  night  a  marauding 
party  from  Enfield  had  tied  their  horses  to  the  highway  fence  not  far 
from  an  attractive  watermelon  patch.  The  Longmeadow  detectives 
found  the  horses,  and  having  fastened  one  of  the  fore  legs  of  each  to 
one  of  his  hind  legs  with  twine  small  enough  to  be  invisible,  but  strong 
enough  to  hold,  the  leader,  Matthew  Keep,  divided  his  forces ;  a  part 
creeping  round  to  the  further  side  of  the  watermelon  lot,  and  the  rest 
hiding  near  the  horses.  When  the  onset  was  made,  the  thieves  hav- 
ing been  allowed  time  to  throw  their  sacks  across  their  horses'  backs 
and  mount,  the  ambushed  men  rushed  forth — to  enjoy  the  easy  cap- 
ture of  the  frantic  riders  and  their  stumbling  nags. 

A  Cemetery  Association  was  formed  in  1872  in  the  western  part  of 
the  town,  with  the  object  of  extending  the  area  of  the  old  bury- 
ing-ground  by  the  purchase  and  improvement  of  adjoining  territory. 
Its  first,-  continuous,  and  present  officers  David  Booth  President,  R.  S. 
Storrs  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  See  Section  G,  page  209. 

Kindred  to  the  above-mentioned  association  there  was  formed,  Octo- 
ber 9,  1876,  the  "  Longmeadow  Street  Improvement  Association," 
also  belonging  to  the  western  part  of  the  town,  whose  general  object, 
as  stated  in  Article  i  of  its  Constitution,  "  shall  be  to  improve  the 
outward  appearance  of  the  village,  particularly  in  respect  of  road- 
ways, sidewalks,  and  the  planting  and  proper  care  of  trees."  The 
association  was  organized  October  21,  1876,  by  the  election  of  Dr.  T. 
L.  Chapman  President,  E.  K.  Colton  Vice-President,  T.  F.  Cordis 
Secretary,  D.  E.  Burbank  Treasurer. 

The  "  May  Breakfast  Association  "  was  organized  in  1869  at  the 
suggestion  of  Captain  and  Mrs.  William  H.  Seamans,  its  first  officers 
being  William  H.  Seamans  President,  Thomas  F.  Condis  Treasurer, 
and  William  F.  Winter  Secretary. 

It  is  a  social  festival  and  fair,  enlisting  the  united  and  best  efforts 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  especially  of  the  younger  portion,  with  the 
object  of  lending  a  helping  hand  in  any  parish  or  public  exigency 
demanding  pecuniary  assistance.  For  several  years  it  accumulated  a 
provisionary  fund  for  furnishing  the  new  church  edifice,  including  the 
organ,  and  afterwards  was  efficient  in  canceling  the  debt  left  at  the 
completion  of  the  new  church.  It  has  raised  clear  of  all  expenses  by 
its  annual  celebrations  $5,922.35,  and  proved  itself  not  only  a  remark- 
ably attractive  social  occasion  but  a  well  managed  business  enterprise. 


267 

Going  back  to  the  former  days,  there  was  another  institution  of 
which  Longmeadow  is  not  inclined  to  boast.  Domestic  slavery  pre- 
vailed to  a  considerable  extent.  Frequent  mention  is  made  in  old 
documents  of  negro  servants.  In  the  old  church  they  had  their  pew 
in  the  gallery,  and  in  the  burying-ground  their  appointed  place  was  the 
southeast  corner.  But  as  no  monuments  commemorated  them,  and 
their  descendants  have  passed  away,  their  history  is  but  ill  preserved. 
In  "Marchant"  Colton's  day-book  for  1769,  May  20,  is  this  entry  : 
"George  Cooley,  Somers,  Cr.  By  a  negrow  man  named  Jack,  Sd 
Cooley  Gave  me  a  bil  of  Sale  of  sd  negrow  for  £60  " — ($200).  After 
the  merchant's  death,  Jack  became  somewhat  uppish,  and  in  his  grum- 
blings one  day  muttered  in  the  hearing  of  his  mistress,  the  Widow 
Colton,  "  Isn't  me  as  free  as  anybody  ? "  "  To  be  sure,"  replied  she, 
"  Go  about  your  business."  "  Me  will,"  says  Jack,  "  if  you  turns  me 
out."  She  accordingly  led  him  to  the  door  and  manumitted  him,  in 
the  ancient  legal  fashion,  by  a  literal  shove  of  the  hand  out  of  her 
door  into  the  wide  world  of  freedom.  Jack  used  to  come  back  and 
plead  for  restoration,  but  unavailingly.  He  became  an  impecunious 
citizen  of  Springfield,  and  occupied  a  cabin  on  the  east  side  of  the 
town  brook,  about  where  the  Second  National  Bank  now  stands.  His 
motto  of  freedom  was  "  The  State  'bliged  to  'stain  me." 

Tradition  says  that  Merchant  Colton,  who  became  the  richest  man 
of  the  precinct,  being  orphaned  at  the  age  of  17,  complained  of  his 
uncle  Ephraim  as  being  hard  with  him,  and  set  up  for  himself ;  being 
allowed  his  own  cows  for  a  support,  and  his  negro  servant  Tony  for  a 
helpmate.  March  26,  1719,  Stephen  Williams,  then  in  the  third  year 
of  his  ministry,  writes  :  "  This  day  I  bought  me  a  servant  man.  Some 
of  my  neighbors  think  it  may  be  for  the  better  ;  others  think  not." 
The  negative  opinion  may  have  resulted  from  his  having  got  so  little 
profit  from  Nicholas,  a  body  servant  who  attended  him  and  his. wife 
on  their  horseback  journeys.  Oct.  21,  1718.  "  I  went  to  Deerfield 
and  sold  my  boy  Nicholas.  He  seemed  to  be  very  concerned  what 
he  was  sold  about ;  and  surely  I  was  grieved  for  him  ;  but  yet  I  thot 
it  wd  be  for  his  benefit  to  be  sold  to  a  master  y*  wd  keep  him  to  busi- 
ness, as  well  as  for  my  profit."  Mention  is  also  made  at  various  times 
of  Tom,  Peter,  Cato,  Phyllis,  Scipio,  and  Stanford.  April  n,  1754. 
"  This  morning  poor  Tom  behaved  saucily  and  unbecomingly,  so  that 
we  were  forced  to  tye  him  up.  He  appeared  penitent  and  I  forgave 
him."  In  his  prayers  frequent  and  tender  supplications  are  Offered 
for  "the  servants  of  the  family."  Oct.  17,1731.  "  I  baptized  our 


268 

negro  boy  Scipio,  I  and  my  wife  publickly  promising  that  we  -would 
endeavor  (God  assisting  us)  that  he  should  have  a  Christian  educa- 
tion." The  church  records  mentions  such  instances.  July  13.  Caesar, 
negro  servant  to  Capt.  Geo.  Colton  and  Zick,  negro  servant  of  Thos. 
Field,  were  "  baptized  and  subjected  themselves  to  ye  covenant  of 
Christ  on  his  church."  Feb.  17,  1733,  Peter,  negro  servant  of  Ser- 
geant John  Cooley.  and  Phyllis,  servant  of  Stephen  Williams,  were 
baptized  and  made  a  public  profession  of  their  reformation. 

It  appears  from  Dr.  Williams'  diary  that  his  intimate  friend,  Presi- 
dent Wheelock  of  Dartmouth  College,  owned  at  least  four  negroes. 

Of  the  old-time  customs,  there  were  both  good  and  bad.  The  peo- 
ple were  shut  in  upon  themselves — both  for  their  enjoyments  and  their 
strifes.  Their  own  community  was  their  little  world  ;  they  knew  each 
others'  affairs  pretty  thoroughly,  and  there  was  abundant  opportunity 
for  the  meddlesome.  Hospitality  was  a  virtue  and  a  solace.  The 
pastor  set  a  large  example.  He  speaks  of  having  one  day  twelve 
chance  guests  at  his  table,  and  during  another  seven  arrivals  to  spend 
the  night.  The  blazing  fire  of  logs  on  the  ample  hearth  sizzled  and 
snapped  and  roared  a  cheery  evening  welcome.  The  tobacco-box, 
with  its  long  and  short  pipes,  hung  in  a  handy  place.  The  straight- 
backed,  rush-bottomed  chairs  tipped  back  against  the  wall,  and  the 
high-backed  settles  that  beat  back  the  draughts  and  reflected  the 
ruddy  glow  invited  to  free  and  easy  talk.  For  the  convenience  of  the 
young  lovers,  there  was  no  next  room,  but  courting  sticks — prophe- 
cies of  the  telephone — long  wooden  tubes  that  could  convey  from  lip 
to  lip  sweet  and  secret  whispers.  The  merry  blast  of  the  stage  horn 
was  a  more  stimulating  sound  than  is  to  us  the  distant  shriek  of  the 
locomotive.  The  flip  irons  were  always  ready  on  the  tavern  hearth, 
and  "  tavern  haunting  "  was  one  of  the  bad  customs.  Carousings, 
excessive  drinking,  "company  keeping,"  "frolicks  "  among  the  young 
people,  "  all  night  "  sometimes,  if  Pastor  Williams  is  correctly  in- 
formed, must  have  been  known  or  else  some  of  his  faithful  sermons 
were  works  of  supererogation. 

The  wood  sleddings,  when  the  woodpile  at  the  parsonage  began  to 
vanish  away,  were  joyful  occasions  for  the  parson,  with  just  a  little 
tinge  of  apprehension.  Never  does  Stephen  Williams  forget  to  make 
a  note  of  them.  Jan.  25,  1757.  "Neighbors  sledded  wood  for  me 
and  shewed  a  Good  Humour.  I  rejoice  at  it.  The  Lord  bless  them 
that  are  out  of  humour,  and  brot  no  wood."  A  selected  load  of  hick- 
ory, expressly  for  his  study  fire,  rejoiced  the  good  man's  heart  still 
more. 


269 

The  "  rate  days,"  too,  were  tests  of  character  and  feeling.  In  the 
great  scarcity  of  money,  the  rates  were  paid  in  grain  which  the  minis- 
ter made  into  beef  and  pork  to  pay  his  debts.  "  I  declined  taking 
some  corn  that  Capt.  C.  sent  here  this  day.  I  think  I  acted  upon  a 
principle  of  justice.  I  desire  that  the  Captain  may  be  kept  calm  and 
composed." 

And  the  spinners  came  to  help  the  parson's  family,  and  the  quilt- 
ers,  and  there  were  "  repasts  of  cake  and  pies  "  and  merry  times. 
The  reapers  and  mowers  also  lent  a  hand  when  the  grass  and  grain  of 
the  "  ministry  land  "  were  ripe  ;  but  the  rum  provided  by  the  parson 
must  be  of  good  quality,  or  there  might  be  "  uneasiness." 

The  customs  of  that  day  looked  towards  mutual  help.  At  every 
raising  the  community  gathered,  and  with  plenty  of  drink  and  great 
good  cheer,  sometimes  "  too  merry,"  the  parson  thought.  For  a  long 
time  there  was  no  appointed  sexton,  the  neighbors  dug  and  filled  the 
grave,  and  carried  the  bier. 

The  ojd-time  minister  had  no  stipulated  vacation,  but  he  indulged 
in  long  journeys,  election  weeks,  and  commencements,  and  when  the 
Sabbath  found  him  absent,  Dea.  Aaron,  or  Master  Jabe  would  read  a 
sermon. 

The  Sabbath  day  was  strictly  kept,  although  considerably  infringed 
upon  in  the  war  times,  from  sunset  on  Saturday  to  sunset  on  Sunday ; 
and  yet  there  was  more  or  less  of  worldly  conversation  about  the 
church  doors  before  service,  and  in  the  horse-sheds  and  neighbors' 
houses  at  noon.  The  tithing  men  also  had  to  watch  with  considerable 
vigilance  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  galleries. 

The  church  creed  was  brief,  but  the  real  creed  was  the  Westminster 
Shorter  Catechism,  recited  at  the  home  fireside  in  connection  with  the 
family  worship,  and  on  Saturday  forenoons,  instead  of  spelling,  in  the 
common  schools.  Dr.  Williams  held  frequent  "  catechisms  "  for  the 
children  ;  he  met  the  young  men  in  the  school-house  for  familiar  ques- 
tionings and  instruction,  the  young  women  also  by  themselves  ;  he 
held  household  meetings  for  prayer  in  cases  of  special  need  ;  he  re- 
peated sermons  in  private  houses  for  the  benefit  of  invalids  and  aged 
people.  A  weekly  lecture,  set  up  by  the  ministers  of  six  adjacent 
parishes,  was  for  a  long  time  largely  attended,  and  on  one  of  these 

occasions  "  after  Mr.  Brewers  Lecture,  Goodman  B was  set  in  the 

pillory  before  the  Congregation."  That  there  were  tramps  in  the  for- 
mer days  we  have  this  testimony  from  Dr.  Williams:  "Jan.  31, 
1766.  "We  have  many  persons,  passing  along,  y*  appear  to  be  mere 
cheats,  y*  impose  upon  people  and  get  money  from  them." 


270 


Q—  INDUSTRIES  AND  MANUFACTURES. 

In  the  early  days  of  Longmeadow,  the  men  and  women,  boys  and 
girls,  were  all  workers  if  they  would  maintain  the  best  repute.  Idlers 
and  drunkards  were  the  rare  exceptions.  There  was  very  little  cash  : 
trade  was  mostly  by  barter,  the  exchange  being  either  of  labor  or  pro- 
duce. Agriculture  was  the  fundamental  resource  and  the  manufac- 
tures were  generally  home-made  or  carried  on  within  the  limits  of  the 
community.  There  were  the  great  and  the  small  spinning-wheels, 
and  the  clacking  looms  and  the  darting  shuttles,  all  making  house- 
hold music.  There  were  the  spinning  and  the  quilting  bees,  the 
candle-dippings,  the  fulling-mills,  the  cloth  dressers,  and  the  dye- 
tubs.  The  shoemakers,  like  Azariah  Woolworth  and  Jonathan 
Stebbins,  wrought  in  their  little  shops  with  their  apprentices,  or 
shouldered  their  packs  and  went  from  house  to  house  to  shoe 
the  family  by  the  day  or  the  week,  when  the  tanners,  like  Oliver 
Dwight  and  Gaius  Bliss,  had  prepared  the  hides ;  the  tailors  and  tai- 
loresses,  like  Isaiah  Morgan  and  Betsy  Colton,  peregrinated  in  like 
fashion,  when  the  home-made  cloth  was  ready.  The  boys  shook  the 
trees  and  picked  up  the  apples ;  the  cider-mills  crushed  them,  and  the 
stills  produced  the  brandy.  The  cabinet-makers,  like  David  and  Wal- 
ter White,  made  the  furniture,  and  made  it  well ;  the  millers,  like 
Abner  Chandler  and  Joseph  Morrison,  ground  the  corn  and  sawed  the 
timber;  the  coopers,  like  Elijah  Colton,  provided  the  barrels  and  tubs  ; 
the  blacksmiths,  like  Chandler  Colton  and  Daniel  and  Israel  Gates, 
shod  the  horses  ;  the  wood-workers  and  wheelwrights,  like  Eli  Taylor 
and  Sabin  Colton,  made  the  carts ;  the  carpenters,  like  George  Ray- 
nolds,  framed  the  houses ;  surveyors,  like  David  Booth,  measured  the 
lands  ;  and  there  were  masons,  hatters,  powder  manufacturers,  ink 
makers,  printers,  brick-makers,  net-weavers,  rope-makers,  broom- 
makers,  and,  indeed,  all  the  handicrafts  that  were  needed  for  the  uses 
or  comforts  of  those  days.  Seven  brick-yards,  and  as  many  shoe- 
shops,  17  cider-mills,  and  6  distilleries  can  be  enumerated  as  belonging 
to  the  western  part  of  the  town  alone,  and  at  least  17  other  manufactur- 
ing industries,  besides  those  carried  on  in  the  private  houses.  "  My 
children,"  writes  Stephen  Williams  in  his  diary  for  Sept.  16,  1762, 
"have  been  trying  the  new  machine  for  the  winding  of  silk  from  the 
balls,  and  have  been  so  far  successful  that  I  apprehend  that  there  may 
be  some  profit  in  raising  silk  even  in  this  country."  While  the  women 
of  his  household  spun  and  wove,  every  farmer  was  something  of  a 
mechanic ;  or  he  could  exchange  his  day's  work  or  his  farm  products 


2/1  » 

for  the  skilled  labor  of  the  village  artisan.  There  were  no  middle- 
men. Every  householder,  even  the  minister,  killed  his  own  beef  and 
pork,  and  loaned  or  borrowed,  as  convenience  suited.  Longmeadow 
had  less  need  of  Boston  or  New  Haven  merchants  than  they  had  of 
her  fanners  to  do  their  winter  teaming,  although  in  quiet  times  of 
peace  large  quantities  of  goods  went  round  by  water.  The  teamsters 
carried  eight  barrels  of  flour  to  a  two-horse  load,  and  their  charge  for 
freight  to  Boston  was  about  $i  per  hundred  pounds. 

Nor  should  the  Longmeadow  flat-boatmen,  like  Capt.  John  Cooley 
and  William  Hixon,  be  forgotten,  as  belonging  to  the  old  days  when 
the  Connecticut  River  was  whitened  with  the  great  white  sails  of  the 
flat-boats,  and  merry  during  the  summer  season  with  the  shouts  and 
songs  of  the  jovial  watermen.  As  for  her  own  merchants,  Samuel  Col- 
ton,  Jonathan  and  Hezekiah  Hale,  the  first  built  his  own  vessels, 
and  they  all  exported  staves,  hoop-timber,  tobacco,  or  some  other 
home  product  for  their  rum,  sugar,  salt,  or  drygoods.  A  bill  of  lading 
for  Merchant  Colton's  brig  Friendship  has  been  cited  in  the  histori- 
cal discourse.  Here  follows  an  invoice  of  Jonathan  Hale  &  Son,  con- 
signing 425  pounds  of  tobacco  to  Jonathan  Smith,  "shiped  By  and  on 
the  Resque  of  Ebenezer  Smith,  Esq.,  on  Bord  the  Briganteen  Cotton 
Burgh,  Wm.  Claghorn,  Commander,  Bound  for  gotten  Bourgh  in  Swe- 
den," and  procuring  in  exchange  "  23  Ibs.  of  white  lead,  14  Ibs.  of 
pepper,  one  silk  handkerchief,  one  set  of  Cheney,  and  3  Snuff  Boxes." 

In  those  ante-railroad  days  the  Longmeadow  merchants  rivaled  those 
of  Springfield  or  Hartford,  and  dealt  with  a  large  extent  of  country. 
It  was  a  frequent  sight  to  behold  on  some  fair  day  the  west  side  of  the 
highway  above  and  below  "  Merchant  Colton's "  lined  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  with  the  horse.5  of  his  customers,  who  had  come  with 
their  saddlebags  from  Somers,  Monson,  Stafford,  and  all  the  region 
round  about.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out  they  were  put  to 
severe  straits  by  the  emission  of  the  Continental  currency.  While 
"  Marchant  Colton  "  refused  it  at  par  value,  Jonathan  and  Hezekiah 
Hale,  with  a  wiser  foresight,  submitted,  and  no  doubt  under  stress  of 
the  following  document,  in  the  handwriting  of  "  Master  Jabe  "  : 

To  Mr  Jonathan  Hail  and  his  fon  Hezekiah  Hail — 

SIRS  :  it  is  matter  of  great  grief  that  you  Should  give  us  caufe  to  call  upon  you 
in  this  uncomon  way.  Every  man  whofe  actions  are  unfriendly  to  the  comon  Caufe 
of  our  country  ought  to  be  convinced  of  his  wrong  behaviour  &  made  to  reform,  or 
treated  as  an  open  enemy.  We  find  you  guilty  of  very  wrong  behaviour  in- felling 
things  at  extravagant  prices,  particularly  Weft  India  Goods.  This  conduct  plainly 
tends  to  undervalue  paper  Currency  which  is  very  detrimental  to  the  Liberties  of 
36 


2/2 

America.  We  therefore  as  your  offended  Brethren  demand  fatiffaction  of  you  the 
offenders  by  a  confefiion  for  your  paft  conduct  &  a  Thorough  reformation  for  time  to 
Come.  We  warn  you  to  be  careful  not  to  endevour  to  fell  anything  at  Such  an 
extravagant  Price  as  you  have  done  before  ;  that  you  Sell  Weft  India  Goods  at  no 
more  than  the  following  Prices  :  Weft  India  Rum  at  Six  Shillings  by  the  Single 
Gallon;  Molafes  at  Three  Shillings,  D° ;  Sugar  at  Nine  pence  pr  Pound ;  Salt  at 
Six  Shilling  by  ye  Single  Bumel ;  and  if  you  Sell  thole  articles  by  the  large  Quan- 
tity you  are  to  Sell  proportionably  Cheaper.  We  expect  an  anfwer  to  this  whether 
you  Comply  or  not ;  as  if  you  do  not  Comply  you  muft  be  Treated  with  as  obftinate 
enemies  to  your  Country.  The  fpace  of  an  hour  is  granted  for  an  anfwer  for  which 
we  mall  wait  on  you. 

By  whom  signed,  if  it  was  signed  at  all,  does  not  appear.  In  Mer- 
•  chant  Colton's  case  the  "  Committee  of  Safety  "  were  disguised.  When 
soon  after  Col.  Gideon  Burt  joined  the  Hail  firm,  we  find  them  doing  a 
good  business  in  gunpowder  for  the  Continental  army.  An  invoice  of 
nine  barrels  of  powder,  dated  Boston,  April  17,  1782,  and  signed  by 
their  consignee,  Thos.  Foster,  records  the  sale  of  tfao  barrels  to 
Samuel  Bradstreet,  and  one  each  to  John  Fairservice,  Capt.  Cordis, 
Wm.  and  Josiah  Brown,  Capt.  Amasa  Davis,  Dawes  &  Coolidge,  Sam'l 
Salisbury  and  Thos.  Newell,  Jr.,  footing  up  a  total  of  ^i34,~3,-6. 

The  farmers  as  well  as  merchants  of  those  days  were  good  book- 
keepers. "Thomas  Colton,  his  Count  Booke  Bought  Feb.  4,  1701—2, 
of  Mr.  John  Pynchon  3d  and  price — oo — 06 — 08,"  contains  accounts 
with  156  different  persons,  paged,  indexed,  and  the  credit  and  debit 
sides  properly  balanced.  Several  such  account-books  remain  to  testify 
to  the  business  accuracy  of  the  ancient  Longmeadow  farmers. 

The  following  list,  taken  at  random,  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton's 
charges  and  payments,  will  throw  light  upon  the  prices  of  various  arti- 
cles in  his  day,  reckoning  six  shillings  to  a  dollar  : 

By  8  pare  of  moos  (made  by  Ebenezer  Blifs  at  my  houfe)  £2.  4.  Seting  a  pach 
on  my  moo  6d.  Side  of  upper  leather  £i.  12.  Making  a  Barrill  33.  6.  Meat  bar- 
rill  43.  Hay  Knife  173.  Coming  12  pounds  of  Wool  I2S.  To  my  jurny  to  Chick- 
ebe  2s.  Mans  work  one  day  2s.  do,  mowing  2s.  3d.  1000  tenpenny  nails  133.  Cow- 
hide 59  Ibs  £4,.  8.  6.  Horfe  2  days  to  ride  to  town  2s.  Oxen  one  day  is.  2d.  Oxen 
and  Cart  one  day  33.  6d.  8  bufhels  Indian  corn,  cam,  i6s.  Weefinge  54  yards  Lin. 
enge  cloth  .£1.  n.  8.  Brafs  Kittell  £i.  Quart  of  Brandy  2s.  Quart  of  melafes  is. 
id.  Peck  of  molte  75.  6d.  3  Hog  yoaks  8s.  Ox  Yoak  £i.  o.  o.  17  Ibs  butter 
173.  4  bufhells  tornups  53.  15  Ibs  tobacco  73.  6d.  In  the  year  1719  my  rate  for 
Mr  Williams  was  ^4.  i.  8.  My  rate  to  the  meeting  houfe,  1714,  ^5.  12.  8.  To  a 
fword  and  Belt  £i.  8.  3  doz  pigens  is.  19  fliahs  2s.  gd.  i  doz  of  pigens  gd. 
broom  i os,  3  doz  Coat  buttons  6s.  8.  A  pare  of  leder  Breches  173.  Anna  Col. 
ton's  board  2  weeks  53.  Geo.  Colton's  board  2  weeks  8s.  Boy  one  day  is.  4000 
good  marchantabel  bords  .£5.  Horfe  one  day  and  Halfe  to  plow  is.  id.  Schooling 
my  boys  7  weeks  £i.  IDS.  Setting  32  copies  45. 


273 

To  encourage  business  enterprise,  the  town,  at  various  dates  toward 
the  close  of  the  last  century  (see  pp.  166-7),  leased  a  strip  of  land 
in  the  middle  of  the  village  green,  a  little  north  of  the  church, 
for  shops  of  various  kinds,  which  made  a  very  slovenly  appearance. 
Little  attention  was  paid  anywhere  to  tidiness  of  grounds  or  dwellings. 
The  woodpiles  and  chipyards  before  the  unpainted  houses,  the  rail 
fences  and  steaming  barnyards  that  came  to  the  front,  the  roaming 
swine  and  geese  (seep.  175),  the  blowing  sand  that  threatened  the 
underpinning  of  the  old  church  (see  p.  152),  gave  no  predictions  of 
street-improvement  societies. 

During  the  present  century  the  Longmeadow  merchants  have  been. 
John  Woolworth,  Calvin  Burt  &  Sons,  Dimond  and  Simeon  Colton, 
William  White,  Horace  Newell,  Lester  Noble,  and  Edwin  K.  Colton ; 
and  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  Andrew  Mclntosh,  Seth  Taylor, 
Willis  Phelps,  William  Lathrop,  Crooks  Bros.,  G.  W.  Callender, 
Henry  Crooks,  C.  F.  Russell,  Prescott  Billings,  Edward  Lathrop,  W. 
H.  Dickinson,  James  L.  Pratt,  and  Henry  Hall. 

The  tavern-keepers  have  been  Simon  Colton,  Nathaniel  Ely, 
Nathaniel  Burt,  Demas  Colton,  Alpheus  Colton,  Stephen  Chandler, 
Seth  Steel,  William  White,  Dimond  Colton  and  Sons,  Captain  33urn- 
ham ;  and  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  Daniel  Porter,  George  Hunt, 
Willis  Phelps,  Joseph  Morrison,  Lyman  Lathrop,  John  Ives,  and 
Henry  Crooks. 

In  1848  Dimond  Chandler  began  the  manufacture  of  buttons  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town,  which  was  largely  expanded  by  the  Newell 
Bros.  The  manufacture  of  spectacles  and  thimbles  was  also  carried 
on  by  Dimond  Chandler,  Jacob  Colton,  Gilson  D.  Hollister,  Sumner 
W.  Gates,  George  Terry  and  E.-K.  Colton,  John  Miller,  Samuel  Bur- 
bank,  and  Wm.  W.  Coomes,  the  last  named  only  remaining  in  that 
trade. 

The  physicians,  besides  those  already  mentioned  as  connected  with 
East  Longmeadow,  have  been  Dr.  Charles  Pynchon,  William  Sheldon, 
Joshua  Frost,  Lewis  White,  Daniel  Stebbins,  Oliver  Bliss,  Hiram 
Bliss,  George  Hooker,  William  Vaille,  D.  A.  Dorman,  T.  L.  Chapman, 
and  John  A.  McKinstry. 

Longmeadow  has  had  but  one  resident  professional  lawyer,  Asa 
Olmstead,  and  his  residence  was  brief.  But  there  have  been  always 
unprofessional  village  lawyers,  such  as  Jabez  and  Elihu  Colton, 
Nathaniel  Ely,  Gad  O.  Bliss,  and  Erskine  D.  Burbank,  whose  techni- 
cal knowledge  and  trusted  judgment  have  been  relied  upon  for  the 
drawing  of  wills,  the  settlement  of  estates,  and  all  similar  business. 


2/4 

Stephen  Williams,  whose  eminent  sagacity  and  judicial  common 
sense,  combined  with  the  gentleness  of  wisdom,  were  held  in  the 
highest  esteem,  was  not  infrequently  consulted  in  the  making  of  wills, 
and  often  acted  as  a  mutual  counsellor  or  referee  in  cases  of  dissen- 
sion and  perplexity. 

The  Longmeadow  fisheries  were  formerly  a  source  of  considerable 
profit.  Salmon  were  so  plenty  before,  the  dams  impeded  them  and 
the  factories  defiled  the  water,  that  a  proportionate  quantity  of  salmon 
was  stipulated  to  go  with  the  shad.  The  shad,  however,  were  always 
the  most  of  a  drug ;  the  salmon  sold  the  shad  rather  than  the  shad  the 
salmon.  Almost  every  family  in  those  days  salted  down  their  shad, 
and  it  was  the  stipulation  of  hired  men  that  they  should  not  have  a 
disproportionate  amount  of  this  article  of  food.  Sturgeon,  sometimes 
to  the  size  of  300  pounds,  were  often  seen  leaping  high  out  of  the 
water.  The  Longmeadow  fishing  rights  were  in  more  recent  days 
divided  between  six  proprietors  :  Oliver  Bliss,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Judah 
Cooley,  Isaac  Calkins,  Dirhond  Colton,  and  John  Coomes.  These 
proprietors  either  manned  the  boat  themselves  or  let  out  their  rights 
on  shares.  The  April  suns  called  out  the  nets  for  shad  or  sturgeon, 
which»were  spread  at  length  on  the  village  green  and  put  in  order.  A 
haul  would  sometimes  bring  in  400  shad.  When  the  boatmen,  who 
worked  on  shares,  massed  their  portion  at  evening  on  the  beach,  the 
fish  were  distributed  in  piles  as  equally  as  possible.  Then  one  man 
would  turn  his  back,  and  as  another  pointed  to  each  pile  with  the  cry, 
"  Who  shall  ?  "  he  would  call  out  a  name,  and  to  the  owner  of  the  name 
would  the  pile  belong.  A  big  sturgeon  made  a  great  commotion  in  a 
shad  net,  but  by  playing  fast  and  loose  was  now  and  then  secured. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  hauls  of  the  Longmeadow  fishers  was 
the  steamer  Massachusetts,  commanded  by  Capt.  Burnham,  Chester 
Chapin,  proprietor.  She  had  her  prescribed  right  to  the  channel  and 
so  had  the  shad-net.  But  on  this  voyage  she  undertook  unnecessarily, 
having  room  enough  besides,  to  ride  over  the  net.  This  roused  the 
ire  of  the  shad-fishers.  Their  floating  rope  was  new  and  strong,  and 
they  had  just  begun  their  haul.  While  the  steamer's  whistle  shrieked 
and  the  engineer  crowded  on  steam,  they  put  every  man  his  full 
strength  to  the  windlass.  The  Massachusetts'  paddle-wheels  got  en- 
tangled and  gave  out,  and  she  had  to  come  in  with  the  shad  high  and 
dry.  With  the  swearing  of  the  officers  and  the  laughter  of  her  passen- 
gers, there  was  a  scene  worthy  of  Charles  Dickens'  notes  of  Connecti- 
cut River  travel  on  one  of  these  same  steamers. 


275 


R.— TOWN  AND  PAROCHIAL  FUNDS. 

Reference  has  been  made  in  various  places  in  the  foregoing  pages 
to  ministerial,  school,  and  other  funds,  respecting  which  a  condensed 
statement  may  be  desirable. 

THE  MINISTERIAL  FUND,  of  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  has  been 
derived  from  the  sale,  at  various  times,  of  the  parochial  ministry  lands. 

The  first  reference  to  ministry  lands  appears  in  the  following  very 
old  agreement  of  Nathaniel  Burt,  Sr.,  Samuel  Bliss,  2d,  Samuel  Steb- 
bins,  and  Thomas  Hale,  who  owned  lands  on  the  Hill  previous  to  the 
laying  out  of  the  house  lots,  viz. : 

"To  incourage  to  collect  on  the  Hill,  and  that  the  land  there  may  be  laid  out 
orderly  to  make  a  vilage  there,  We  do  agree  as  followeth —  . 

Ist  As  to  Nath1  Burt  Senr  concerning  my  land  on  the  North  Side  of  Long- 
meadow  Brook,  I  will  give  fd  land  to  publick  ufe  to  the  Miniftry  or  Minifter,  or  that 
f"  Lands  fhall  be  given  to  private  men  provided  that  there  be  land  provided  for  that 
ufe,  that  may  be  more  convenient." 

By  Grant  No.  15  (see  page  181)  it  appears  that  this  Nathaniel  Burt 
received  an  allotment  of  forty  rods  frontage  on  the  east  side  of  the 
main  street,  north  of  Meeting-House  Lane,  which  he  by  deed  (referred 
to  in  the  deed  of  Pastor  Storrs's  homestead,  given  on  page  198)  con- 
veyed to  the  Parish  of  Longmeadow,  "the  same  to  be  and  remain 
to  the  use  and  improvement  of  the  orthodox  Nonconformist  minis- 
ters of  said  Parish  successively  forever." 

By  vote  of  the  parish,  March  7,  1715,  Pastor  Williams  was  permit- 
ted to  "chuse  a  horn  Lott"  (see  page  168),  and  appears  to  have 
chosen  the  south  half  of  this  grant,  and  to  have  erected  thereupon  his 
own  house ;  receiving  also  the  use  and  improvement  of  the  other  half 
of  the  same  grant,  under  the  name  of  the  five-acre  ministry  lot,  by 
further  vote  of  May  4,  1715  (see  page  168). 

Upon  the  settlement  of  Pastor  Storrs,  by  vote  of  the  Town,  Aug. 
29,  1785  (see  page  171),  the  use  and  improvement  of  this  five-acre 
ministry  lot  was  also  granted  to  him ;  but  no  home  lot  in  fee  simple, 
as  had  been  to  Pastor  Williams.  The  town  being  desirous  of  selling 
its  ministry  (and  also  school)  lands,  as  appears  by  many  votes  at  dif- 
ferent times,  and  Pastor  Storrs  being  willing  to  purchase,  he  proceeded, 
upon  this  general  understanding,  to  erect,  in  1786,  a  house  for  himself 
upon  the  north  half  of  this  ministry  lot,  depending  upon  a  subsequent 
transfer  of  title ;  and  April  4,  1791,  five  years  after,  we  find  a  vote  of 
the  town,  "  To  insert  in  the  next  warrant  issued  by  the  selectmen  a 


276 

clause  to  obtain  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  respecting  giving  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Storrs  an  indisputable  title  to  the  land  on  which  his  house 
stands,  and  also  to  determine  upon  what  terms,  or  in  what  method, 
the  town  chooses  that  he  shall  pay  for  the  said  land ; "  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  further  vote,  May  3,  1791,  "  To  give  the  Rev.  Mr.  Storrs  a 
deed  of  the  land  which  was  sold  him  by  the  town,  if  he  will  pay  ^40 
lawful  money  for  the  same,  with  interest  from  the  3d  of  May,  1791." 
The  method  of  transfer  which  was  adopted  has  already  been 
described  (see  pp.  197,  198). 

The  south  half  of  this  five-acre  ministiy  lot  remained  under  the  use 
and  improvement  of  Pastor  Storrs  during  his  life,  and  soon  after  his 
death  was  sold  by  the  parish,  through  its  agents,  the  Trustees  of  the 
Ministerial  Fund, — an  organization  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  1823,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  and  managing  the  parochial 
property,  in  whose  care  the  fund  itself  now  remains. 

A  SABBATH-SCHOOL  FUND  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  given  in 
1873,  by  Ethan  C.  Ely  in  memory  of  his  only  son,  Mason  Warren 
Ely,  who  died  Nov.  7,  1871,  aged  13  years.  The  fund  is  known  as 
the  Mason  Warren  Ely  Fund;  and  its  annual  interest  is  applicable  to 
the  purchase  of  books  for  the  Sabbath-school  use. 

THE  BURYING  GROUND  FUND  has  already  been  fully  explained 
upon  page  201.  Its  claim  upon  every  loving  and  reverent  son  or 
daughter  of  Longmeadow  is  strong  and  tender.  It  should  come 
ultimately  to  represent  the  sacred  ancestral  instincts  and  interests  of 
hundreds  of  such,  turning  lovingly  thitherward  from  every  part  of  our 
land. 

Although,  as  appears  by  the  foregoing  statements,  none  of  the  for- 
mer school  or  ministry  lands  remain  now,  as  such,  in  the  possession 
of  either  the  town  or  parish,  yet  by  a  favoring  concurrence  of  circum- 
stances, the  First  Parish  has  become  the  present  owner  of  the  corner 
building  lot  of  the  original  Pastor  Williams  home  lot.  The  burning 
of  the  old  Williams  parsonage  in  1846,  already  referred  to  on  page  234, 
and  the  subsequent  death  of  the  grandson  there  mentioned,  opened 
the  opportunity  to  a  few  citizens  to  unite,  in  the  year  1857,  in  the  pur- 
chase of  this  lot,  and  in  the  subsequent  erection  upon  it  of  a  conven- 
ient and  tasteful  brick  parsonage,  which  was  then  transferred  to  the 
First  Parish  as  its  perpetual  parsonage  property.  Thus  it  happens 
that  the  present  century  finds  the  pastor  of  the  old  Longmeadow 
Church  dwelling  upon  the  same  spot,  drawing  water  from  the  same 
well,  and  cultivating  the  same  garden  as  good  old  Pastor  Williams  of 
nearly  two  centuries  ago. 


2/7 


S.— THE  RECENT  MILITARY  RECORD. 

The  record  of  Longmeadow  in  the  late  civil  war  was  a  noteworthy 
one,  not  only  in  the  number  of  her  representatives  upon  the  battle 
field,  but  more  especially  in  the  alacrity  of  her  pecuniary  response  to 
the  call  of  the  hour.  Before  the  passage  of  any  law  by  the  State 
Legislature  authorizing  towns  to  tax  themselves  for  bounties  to  volun- 
teers, papers  were  circulated  at  three  different  times,  and  received 
the  signatures  of  nearly  every  voter,  pledging  themselves  to  the  pay- 
ment of  their  personal  proportion  of  liberal  bounties  ($100,  $100, 
$200,)  to  each  volunteer  under  the  respective  calls  of  the  President, 
whether  the  Legislature  should  ultimately  pass  any  enabling  act  or 
not.  These  subscription  papers,  still  preserved  in  the  town  archives, 
constitute  a  Roll  of  Honor  for  those  who  thus  promptly  pledged  their 
property,  hardly  less  a  source  of  just  pride  to  the  town  than  the 
muster  roll  of  its  volunteers. 

When  the  Legislature  did  pass  the  desired  enabling  act,  the  town 
itself  promptly  authorized  a  temporary  war  debt  of  several  thousand 
dollars,  which  it  then  promptly  extinguished  by  taxation.  Indeed,  it 
may  be  mentioned  here,  as  one  of  the  happy  distinctions  of  Long- 
meadow,  that  with  an  unusually  low  rate  of  taxation,  it  has  never  been 
willing  to  rest  long  under  a  town  debt  for  any  purpose. 

The  following  is  a  very  nearly  complete  list  of  Longmeadow's 
contribution  in  men  to  the  Union  force  in  the  late  civil  war : 

LONGMEADOW  VOLUNTEERS,  SUBSTITUTES,  AND  DRAFTED  MEN. 

[EXPLANATION. — M'd  in,  mustered  in;  m'd  out,  mustered  out;  transf'd  transferred;  re-en, 
re-enlisted;  pro,  promoted;  disch'd,  discharged;  rec'd,  received.] 

RISDON  A.  BREWER,  8th  Infy  ,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  July  13,  1864,  m'd  out  Nov.  10,  1864. 
J.  MILTON  GRISWOLD,  8th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  July  13,  1864,  m'd  out  Nov.  10,  1864. 
ALBERT  M.  PEASE,  8th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  July  13,  1864,  m'd  out  Nov.  10,  1864. 
GEORGE  M.  TAYLOR,  8th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  July  13,  1864,  m'd  out  Nov.  10, 1864. 
EDWARD  L.  GAGE,  8th  Infy.,  Co.  H,  m'd  in  July  10,  1864,  m'd  out  Nov.  10,  1864. 
WILLIAM  COLLINS,  gth  Infy.,  Co.  G,  m'd  in  July  16,  1863,  deserted  Sept.  19,  1863. 
JAMES  BARTEL,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  G,  deserted,  no  date  of  his  desertion. 
GEORGE  COOK,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861 ;  transf'd  to  Battery  G,  2d 

U.  S.  Art.,  Nov.  21,  1862;  pro.  to  ist  Sergt.;  killed  at  Cold  Harbor,  Va., 

May  31,  1864. 
JAMES  W.  BLOSSOM,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Dec.  22,  1863;  transf'd  to  Co.  H, 

37th  Regt,  June  21,  1864;  transf'd  to  Co.  K,  2Oth  Regt.,  June  21^  1865; 

dropped  from  rolls  July  7,  1865;  no  record  of  muster  out. 
MERRITT  E.  SANFORD,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Dec.  22,  1863;  transf'd  to  Co.  H, 

37th  Regt.,  June  21,  1864;  transf'd  to  Co.  K,  2oth  Regt.,  June  21,   1865; 

pro.  Corpl.  July  i,  1865,  Sergt.  July  20,  1865;  m'd  out  July  16,  1865. 


278 

FRANCIS  WALKER,  toth  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Dec.  22,  1863;  transf'd  to  Co.  H,  37th 

Regt,  June  21,  1864;  transf'd  to  Co.  K,  2oth  Regt,  June  21,  1865.     Severely 

wounded  in  hand  at  Salem  Heights,  Va.,  May  3, 1863.     M'd  out  July  16,  1865. 
JOHN  N.  WALKER,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Dec.  22,  1863 ;  transf'd  to  Co.  H,  37th 

Regt.,  June  21,1 864 ;  transf'd  to  2Oth  Regt.,  June  21,1 865.     Severely  wounded 

in  groin  at  Spottsylvania  May  12,  1864.     No  record  of  muster  out. 
SAMUEL  IRWIN,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  C,  m'd  in  Dec.  21,  1863;  died  May  29,  1864,  of 

wounds  received  at  Spottsylvania  May  12,  1864. 
CHARLES  E.  SPELLMAN,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  E,  m'd  in  Dec.  22,  1863  '>  transf'd  to  Co.  K, 

37th  Regt.,  June  19,  1863  ;  transf'd  to  2Oth  Regt,  Co.  K,  June  21,  1865  ;  m'd 

out  July  1 6,  1865. 
WILLIAM  WARRILLOW,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  E,  .m'd  in  Dec.  22,  1863  ;  transf'd  to  Co.  K, 

37th  Regt.,  June  19,  1864 ;  transf'd  to  Co.  K,  2oth   Regt.,  June   21,  1865. 

Slightly  wounded  in  hand  at  Spottsylvania  May  12, 1864  ;  m'd  out  July  16,  1865. 
ORRIN  B.  COOLEY,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861 ;  pro.  to  Corpl.  and 

Sergt. ;  disch'd  Feb.  20,  1864,  to  re-en. ;  transf'd  to  Co.  I,  37th  Regt.,  June 

19,  1864 ;  Pro.  to  2d  Lieut,  in  I7th  Regt.  Feb.  7, 1865  ;  pro.  to  ist  Lieut.  June 

I,  1865  ;  m'd  out  July  n,  1865. 
EDWARD  P.  COOMES,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861.     Wounded  in  hand 

at  Spottsylvania  May  12,  1864;  m'd  out  July  I,  1864;  re-en,  in  Hancock's 

Vet.  Corps  ;  pro.  to  Sergt. 
ELIAS  COOMES,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861.     Killed  at  Fair  Oaks  May 

31,  1862,  shot  through  the  head. 
EMORY  B.  GATES,  xoth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861 ;  transf'd  to  Vet.  Res. 

Corps  Nov.  23,  1863;  m'd  out  July  i,  1864. 
ORRIN  A.  HENDRICK,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861  ;  pro.  to  Corpl.  and 

Sergt.  in  Sept.  1863 ;  disch'd  in  Oct.  1863,  to  accept  a  commission  in  Gen. 

Wild's  colored  brigade  ;  pro.  to  rank  of  Major. 
JOSIAH  C.  HUNT,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861;  disch'd  Sept.  19,   1862, 

for  disability;  re-en.  Feb.  i8th,  in  Co.  A,  3d  Cav. ;  m'd  out  Sept.  28,   1865. 

Died  at  home  Jan.  12,  1868. 
EDWARD  W.  LATHROP,  loth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,   1861,  disch'd  Oct.  27, 

1862,  for  disability,  typhoid  fever. 
WILLIAM  F.  WINTER,  roth  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861,  pro.  to  Corpl.  Nov. 

13,  1862,  Sergt.  Jan.  i,  1864.     Was  not  absent  from  his  regiment  a  single  day, 

nor  in  hospital;  m'd  out  July  i,  1864. 

JAMES  MCLAUGHLIN,  nth  Infy.,  Co.  C,  m'd  in  July  15,  1863,  m'd  out  July  14,  1865. 
EDMUND  A.  COLTON,  nth  Infy.,  Co.  G,  m'd  in  June  13,  1861,  m'd  out  June  24,  1864, 

pro.  to  Corpl. 
THOMAS  BURKE,  2oth  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Aug.  26,  1861,  transf'd  to  4th  U.  S.  Art. 

Oct.  20,  1862. 
DANIEL  GALLAGHER,  2ist  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Aug.  23,  1861,  transf'd  to  U.  S.  Cav. 

Oct.  25,  1862. 
HENRY  A.  KNOX,  2ist  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Aug.  23,  1861,  disch'd  Jan.  i,  1864,  to 

re-en.  ;  transf'd  to  Co.  I,  36th  Regt. ;  transf'd  to  Co.  A,  56th  Regt.,  June  8, 

1865  ;  m'd  out  July  12,  1865. 
NATHANIEL  F.  KNOX,  2ist  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Feb.  23,  1864.     Taken  prisoner 

before  Petersburg,  Va.,  Sept.  30,  1864.     Died  at  Andersonville  Feb.  21,  1865. 


2/9 

JOSEPH  FRIZZELL,  22d  Infy.,  m'd  in  June  29,  1864.     Substitute  for  Edward  Cordis  ; 

cost,  $750.00. 
CARLO  F.  BROWN,  24th  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  Sept.  12,  1861.    Killed. at  Newbern, 

N.  C.,  Mar.  14,  1862. 
GEORGE  DINKS,  25th  Infy.,  Co.  G,  m'd  in  Jan.  12,   1864.     Died  at  New  Haven, 

Conn.,  Oct.  15,  1864. 
FREDERICK  H.  BLACKMER,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  E,  m'd  in  June  19,  1862;  disch'd  Aug. 

12,  1863  ;  re-en.  Feb.  10,  1864,  in  Co.  I,  3d  Regt.,  Heavy  Art. ;  m'd  out  Sept. 

26,  1865. 
DEXTER  AINSWORTH,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Sept.  25,  1861  ;  disch'd  to  re-en. 

Dec.  23,  1863  ;  m'd  out  June  26,  1865. 
DORR  R.  BRUCE,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Feb.  27,  1864.    Died  May  7,   1864,  of 

wounds  rec'd  at  Walthall  Junction,  Va. 
EBENEZER  P.  MCGREGORY,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Sept.  26,   1861  ;  transf'd  to 

Vet.  Res.  Corps  Aug.  14,  1863;  m'd  out  April  i,  1865. 
CHARLES  H.  RUST,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Oct.  12,  1861 ;  pro.  to  Corpl.  April  i, 

1862  ;  m'd  out  Nov.  i,  1864. 
EDWARD  PENDLETON,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  G,  m'd  in  July  31,  1862 ;  disch'd  to  re-en,  in 

Co.  G,  27th  Regt.,  Jan.  I,  1864;  disch'd  Nov.  23,  1865,  for  disability. 
REUBEN  WICKS,  27th  Infy.,  Co.  E,  m'd  in  July  7, 1864.     Never  joined  his  Company. 
CHARLES  STONE,  28th  Infy.,  m'd  in  July  19, 1864.     Substitute  for  Edwin  K.  Colton ; 

cost,  $700.00. 
EDWARD  WALTERS,  28th  Infy.,  m'd  in  July  19,   1864.     Substitute  for  Arthur  D. 

Medlicott ;  cost,  $700.00. 
PATRICK  CARNES,  3ist  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Nov.  20,  1861  ;  disch'd  to  re-en.  Feb. 

12,  1864,  in  Co.  A,  3ist  Regt.;  m'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865. 

JOHN  DELACY,  32d  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  July  16,  1863.     Died,  no  date  given. 
CHARLES  S.  RANSOM,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Sept.  2,  1862.     Deserted  Oct.  i,  1863. 
CHARLES  H.  ELY,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1863,  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
EDWARD  BURT,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,   1862 ;  pro.  to  Corpl.     Died 

June  2,  1864,  of  wounds  rec'd  at  Spottsylvania. 
DWIGHT  M.  CHAPMAN,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  pro.  to  Corpl. ; 

m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
GEORGE  C.  DAGGETT,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862;  transf'd  to  Vet.  Res. 

Corps  Sept.  16,  1863  ;  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 

DANIEL  GREEN,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862,  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
HENRY  HALL,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862,  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
CHESTER  D.  HOLBROOK,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  pro.  to  Corpl. 

Shot  through  the  arm  in  the  Wilderness  May  6,  1864;  disch'd  for  disability 

Nov.  22,  1864. 
BARNABAS  C.  KNOX,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  disch'd  for  disability 

May  6,  1863. 
ALFRED  HITCHCOCK,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862.     Died  at  Frederick 

City,  Md.,  Aug.  7,  1864. 
FREDERICK  A.  MOODY,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  pro.  to  Corpl.  Jan. 

12,  1864,  Sergt.  April  9,  1865;  m'd  out  Jan.  21,  1865. 

JOHN  ORR,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862.     Deserted  June  18,  1863. 
SAMUEL  ORR,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,   1862 ;  pro.  Corpl.     Disch'd  for 

disability  May  20,  1864. 
37 


280 

DWIGHT  H.  PARSONS,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  pro.  to  Commissary 

Sergt.  Nov.  27,  1862 ;  pro.  2d  Lieut.  Mar.  4,  1865 ;  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
WILLJAM  E,  PARSONS,  37th   Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,   1862 ;  pro.  to  Corpl. 

April  6,  1865;  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
BENNETT  H.  PEPPER,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862;  pro.  to  Sergt. ;  m'd 

out  June  21,  1865. 

HILAND  PORTER,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862,  m'd  out  June  21,  1865. 
JOHN  C.  ROCKWOOD,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  pro.  to  Corpl. ;  m'd 

out  June  21,  1865. 
JAMES  F.  Ross,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,   1862.     Shot  in  shoulder  at 

Wilderness,  May  6,  1864  ;  transf'd  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps ;  m'd  out  June  21, 1865. 
JOHN  SHEA,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,   1862.     Died  of  wounds  April  7, 

1865,  received  at  Sailor's  Creek. 
MYRON  D.  TAYLOR,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862.     Died  Mar.  18,  1864, 

at  Brandy  Station,  Va. 
NATHANIEL  P.  TAYLOR,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  June  4,  1864 ;  taken  prisoner 

May  27,  1864.     Died  at  Andersonville  Aug.  5,  1864. 

WILLIAM  THOMPSON,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862,  m'd  out  June  21, 1865. 
SPENCER  H.  WOOD,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  transf'd  to  Vet.  Res. 

Corps  Oct.  4,  1864. 
TIMOTHY  MULLEN,  3/th  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Jan.  4,  1864.     Killed  at  Sailor's  Creek 

April  6,  1865;  was  wounded  and  bayoneted. 
JAMES  ELLIOT  BLISS,  37th  Infy.,  Co.  K,  m'd  in  Aug.  30,  1862.     Murdered  at  White 

Oak  Swamp,  Va.,  Dec.  8,  1862. 
THOMAS  F.  CORDIS,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Sept.  25,  1862 ;  pro.  to  Sergt.;  m'd 

out  July  29,  1863. 
ARTHUR  D.  MEDLICOTT,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Sept.  25,  1862;  disch'd  Jan.  5, 

1863.     Furnished  substitute,  R.  Ryan. 
JAMES  E.  Coo  LEY,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  E,  m'd  in  Oct.  15,  1862;  pro.  to  Corpl. ;  m'd  out 

July  29,  1863. 

STEPHEN  R.  ASHLEY,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
JOEL  B.  CALHOUN,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 

Substitute  for  J.  C.  Pease. 
WILLIAM  A.  CARPENTER,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29, 

1863. 

PATRICK  CASEY,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
JOHN  COME,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863.     Dead. 
ALBERT  E.  CONVERSE,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862.    Disch'd  to  re-en. 

in  Co.  A,  2d  Regt.,  Heavy  Art.,  June  3,  1863;  m'd  out  Sept.  3,  1865. 
N.  SAXTON  COOLEY,  46th  Infy.,  Co.   I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,   1862.     Was  chosen  2d 

Lieut.     Detailed  on  Signal  Corps.     Stationed  in  front  of  Charleston,  S.  C., 

from  Feb.  1863  ;  m'd  out  in  Oct.  1863. 

GILBERT  H.  COOMES,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29. 1863. 
RICHARD  H.  COOMES,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
PATRICK  DAVIS,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
WILLIAM  C.  EATON,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24.  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
ARTHUR  F.  EGGLESTON,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24, 1862,  m'd  out  July  29, 1863. 
JAMES  P.  GRISWOLD,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24, 1862,  m'd  out  Sept.  29, 1863, 


28l 

ETHAN  C.  MC!NTOSH,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862.     Disch'd  June  25, 

1863.     Civil  appointment. 
DANIEL  F.  MURRAY,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  Jnly  29,  1863. 

Dead. 
DALLAS  M.  PEASE,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862.    Disch'd  June  3,  1863, 

to  re-en,  in  Co.  A,  2d  Heavy  Art. ;  m'd  out  Sept.  3,  1865. 

GEORGE  M.  ROBBINS,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24, 1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
GEORGE  W.  SCOTT,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862,  m'd  out  July  29,  1863. 
FRANK  R.  STEBBINS,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,   1862.    Disch'd  Mar.  17, 

1863,  for  disability.     Died  Mar.  26,  1863. 

EDMUND  W.  WARNER,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862  ;  pro.  to  Corpl. ; 

m'd  out  July  29,  1863.     Died  Aug.  4,  1863. 

JOEL  E.  WHITTEMORE,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862.    Disch'd  for  disa- 
bility Mar.  21,  1863. 
EDWARD  F.  MOODY,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Oct.  16,  1862.    Disch'd  in  Nov.  1862. 

Furnished  a  substitute. 
EUGENE  C.  PORTER,  46th  Infy.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Sept.  24,  1862;  pro.  to  Corpl. ;  m'd 

out  July  29,  1863. 

EDWARD  HINES,  54th  Infy.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Mar.  30,  1863,  m'd  out  Aug.  20,  1865. 
JOHN  CORNISH,  54th  Infy.,  Co.  C,  m'd  in  Mar.  30,  1863,  m'd  out  Aug.  20,  1865. 
PETER  WARD,  20^  57th  Infy.,  Co.  B,  m'd  in  Jan.  4,   1864,  m'd  out  July  30,  1865. 

Absent,  wounded. 
MICHAEL  HARRIS,  57th  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd.  in  Feb.  18,  1864.     Died  of  wounds  May 

12,  1864,  rec'd  at  Wilderness. 
JAMES  P.  Twiss,  57th  Infy.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  Feb.  18,  1864.     Died  at  City  Point,  Va., 

July  22,  1864. 

HUGH  PATRICK,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Dec.  30,  1863,  m'd  out  June  26,  1865. 
THOMAS  BENTLEY,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  D,  m'd  in  Feb.  20,  1864,  m'd  out  June  29,  1865. 
CORNELIUS  T.  CHANDLER,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  E,  m'd  in  Sept.  14,  1861,  m'd  out  Nov.  7, 

1864.  Died  Sept.  15,  1867. 

JAMES  M.  COOMES,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  E,  m'd  in  Sept.  18,  1861.    Died  May  4,  1864,  in 

Andersonville. 
ELISHA  Goss,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  Sept.  25,  1861.     Disch'd  for  disability  Feb.  5, 

1863.     Died  April  8,  1863. 
CHAUNCEY  E.  PECK,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  Sept.  25,  1861.    Disch'd  for  disability 

Sept.  12,  1864. 

GEORGE  SLADE,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  H,  m'd  in  Nov.  15,  1864,  m'd  out  June  26,  1865. 
JOHN  E.  PERKINS,  ist  Cav.,  Co.  H.     No  record.     Enlisted  Jan.  n,  1864. 
JAMES  ANDERSON,  2d  Cav.,  unassigned  recruit,  m'd  in  July  15,  1864. 
JOHN  GREY,  2d  Cav.,  unassigned  recruit,  m'd  in  July  15,  1864. 
JOHN  HARVEY,  2d  Cav.,  unassigned  recruit,  m'd  in  July  8,  1864.    Discharged  for 

disability  July  22,  1864. 

FRANCIS  LYNCH,  2d  Cav.,  unassigned  recruit,  m'd  in  July  15,  1864. 
HENRY  C.  HUNT,  3d  Cav.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Feb.  16,  1864;  pro.  to  Corpl.  ;  m'd  out 

Sept.  28,  1865. 
JAMES  DONAHUE,  3d  Cav.,  Co.  G,  m'd  in  Jan.  5,  1864.    Died  Aug.  10,  1864,  at 

Soldiers'  Rest,  Springfield,  Mass. 
CHARLES  D.  MACKEY,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Mar.  i,  1864.     Disch'd  for  disability 

May  24,  1865. 


282 

FARNAM  E.  SAWIN,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Mar.  i,  1864 ;  pro.  to  Sergt. ;  m'd  out 

Nov.  14,  1865. 
WILLIAM  A.  SMITH,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  A,  m'd  in  Mar.  i,  1864 ;  pro.  to  Corpl.     Killed 

Oct.  24,  1864,  at  Gum  Creek,  Fla. 

BENJAMIN  F.  COOK,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  C,  m'd  in  Jan.  6,  1864,  m'd  out  Nov.  14,  1865. 
JOHN  F.  BANNON,  4th  Cav.,  Co.  G,  m'd  in  Jan.  27, 1864 ;  Pro- to  Ist  Sergt.     Deserted 

April  7,  1865. 
HERBERT  E.  EGGLESTON,  2d  Heavy  Art.,  Co.  F,  m'd  in  Aug.  26,  1864,  m'd  out 

June  26,  1865. 
HIRAM  C.  BLACKMER,  3d  Heavy  Art.,  Co.  I,  m'd  in  Feb.  10,  1864,  m'd  out  May 

28,  1865. 

HARVEY  H.  COOMES,  5th  Infy.,  Conn.,  disch'd  in  1865.     Enlisted  in  June  1861. 
JAMES  GAGE,  7th  Infy.,  Co.  B,  Conn.,  m'd  out  in  Sept.  1864.     Enlisted  Sept.  2,  1861. 
WILLIAM  A.  ALLEN,  8th  Infy.,  Co.  B,  Conn.,  m'd  in  Sept.  12,  1861,  m'd  out  Dec. 

12,  1865. 

GEORGE  MILLER,  i6th  Infy.,  Co.  D,  Conn.     Died  Mch.  18,  1865,  at  Annapolis,  Md. 
ERASTUS  B.  KEENEY,  i6th  Infy.,  Conn.    Disch'd  June  10,  1865. 
ETHAN  W.  LATHROP,  i6th  Infy.,  Conn.     Died  Oct.  21,   1863,  in  hospital  at  New 

Haven,  of  typhoid  fever  produced  by  sun  stroke.     Enlisted  Aug.  14,  1862. 
CHARLES  E.  MINER,  i6th  Infy.,  Conn.     No  record. 
WILLIAM  H.  CROOKS,  ist  Infy.,  Co.  D,  N.  Y.,  m'd  in  June  21,  1861.     Wounded  in 

shoulder  at  Williamsburg,  Va. ;  pro.  2d  Lieut.  Jan.  23,  1864  ;  pro.  to  Capt. ; 

m'd  out  July  26,  1864. 

JOHN  CARVER,  88th  Infy.,  N.  Y.    No  record. 
PATRICK  PIERCE,  88th  Infy.,  N.  Y.     No  record. 
JOHN  RANDALL,  88th  Infy.,  N.  Y.    No  record. 
ASAHEL  GAGE,  JR.,  2d  Wis.,  Co.  D.     Killed  by  a  shell  at  South  Mountain  Sept.  14, 

1862.     Enlisted  April  19,  1861. 
OTTO  NEWPORT,  5th  Cav.,  U.  S.    No  record. 
STEPHEN  H.  GREELEY,  5th  Cav.,  Co.  D,  N.  Y.    No  record. 
GEORGE  F.  SESSIONS,  3d  Art.,  Co.  E,  U.  S.,  m'd  in  Oct.  14,  1861 ;  pro.  to  Corpl., 

Sergt.,  and  ist  Sergt.;  m'd  out  Oct.  14,  1864. 
HOWARD  M.  BURNHAM,  5th  Art.,  Co.  H,  U.  S.     Rec'd  appointment  of  2d  Lieut. 

in  5th  U.  S.  Art.  May  14,  1861 ;  pro.  to  ist  Lieut.  April  27,  1863.     In  Aug. 

1863  was  in  command  of  Battery  H,  5th  U.  S.  Art.    Appointed  Chief  of  Art., 

ist  Div.,  i4th  Army  Corps,  on  Staff  of  Gen.  Baird.     Killed  at  Chicamauga, 

Ga.,  Sept.  19,  1863. 
EDWARD  F.  PHELPS,  ist  Bat'y,  Conn.,  m'd  in  Nov.  13,  1861 ;  pro.  to  Corpl.  and 

Sergt. ;  m'd  out  in  Va.  in  1864. 
MOSES  PHELPS,  JR.,  ist  Bat'y,  Conn.,  m'd  in  Nov.  13,  1861.    Disch'd  for  disability 

in  1864. 
LEVI  H.  WARNER,  ist  Bat'y,  Conn.,  m'd  in  Nov.  13,  1861.     Died  of  typhoid  fever 

Aug.  8,  1862,  at  Hartford,  Conn. 
EUGENE  MCGREGORY,  i5th  Bat'y,  m'd  in  Dec.  1862. 
GEORGE  EVANS.    No  record. 
GIDEON  D.  TOWNE.    No  record. 
JOHN  F.  WHITCOMB.    No  record. 
MICHAEL  LEONARD,  U.  S.  Navy.    No  Record. 


283 

PETER  CAVANAGH,  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  m'd  in  Dec.  6,  1864.    Disch'd  Nov.  15,  1865. 

Order  War  Department. 

JAMES  HOTEY,  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  m'd  in  Nov.  21,  1864. 
JOHN  HURLEY,  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  m'd  in  Dec.  7,  1864.     Disch'€~Nov.  17,   1865. 

Order  War  Department. 

JOHN  JACKEL,  Vet.  Res.  Corps,  m'd  in  Dec.  7,  1864. 
JAMES  M.  CLARK,  substitute  for  William  E.  Bliss;  cost,  $808. 
MICHAEL  DALTON,  substitute  for  Thomas  F.  Cordis  ;  cost,  $733. 
CHARLES  L.  DAVIS,  substitute  for  C.  F.  Hunn  ;  cost,  $808. 
WILLIAM  DILLON,  substitute  for  John  N.  Colton;  cost,  $733. 
JOSEPH  HARGREAVES,  substitute  for  David  Booth,  2d ;  cost,  $808. 
DAVID  JOHNSON,  substitute  for  Homer  Dwight ;  cost,  $908. 
EDWARD  JOHNSON,  substitute  for  William  E.  Boies  ;  cost,  #733. 
CHARLES  LAURENS,  substitute  for  D.  Erskine  Burbank  ;  cost,  $715.50. 
ANDREW  MCNAUGHTON,  substitute  for  Stephen  R.  Ashley ;  cost,  $808. 
JAMES  SMITH,  substitute  for  Sylvester  Bliss ;  cost,  $700. 
FRANK  WILLIAMS, -substitute  for  N.  Saxton  Cooley;  cost,  $710. 
DANIEL  C.  BLISS,  drafted  in  1864 ;  procured  a  substitute. 
DAVID  W.  DONE,  drafted  in  1864;  procured  a  substitute. 
MYRON  HILL,  drafted  in  1864;  paid  commutation,  $300. 
RALPH  B.  HOPKINS,  drafted  in  1864;  procured  a  substitute. 
HENRY  J.  ROBERT,  drafted  in  1864;  paid  commutation,  $300. 
SIMEON  B.  SIMONS,  drafted  in  1864 ;  paid  commutation,  $300. 

SUMMARY. 

Whole  number,            .            .            .            .  .            .            .            .            166 

Served  whole  term  of  enlistment,       .  .                         -79 

Killed,              .'          .  .8 

Died  of  wounds,                        ....  .5 

Died  of  disease,           ....  ...                         .10 

Died  in  prison,              ....  .3 

Discharged  for  disability,       ..        '     .            .  .12 

Deserted,          ....  .  •                                  .5 

No  record,        ......  .             .       18 

Substitutes,       .  .14 

Transferred  to  regular  army,               ...  .2 

Discharged  by  order  of  War  Department,    .  .                                      .2 

Drafted,             .....'  .6 

U.  S.  Navy,       .....  •     '    I 

Never  joined  his  company,     .  .         I 

166 

Died  since  the  war,      .  •  S 

Average  age,    ....  25  years  4  months. 

Total  loss  by  death,     ......  26 


284 

PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 

The  formal  details  of  tabular  statements  might  be  to  any  extent 
relieved  and  enlivened  by  personal  sketches  of  army  experience.  The 
two  which  follow  are  taken  as  representative  of  gallant  behavior  and 
personal  incident  on  the  field  in  different  departments  of  the  service. 


THE  UURNHAM  PLACE,  LONGMEAI 

LIEUT.  HOWARD   MATHER  BURNHAM,   BATTERY  H,   FIFTH   U.  S.  ARTILLERY, 

Son  of  Roderick  H.  and  Katharine  Livingston  Burnham,  grandson  of  Elisha  and 
Emily  Burt  Burnham,  and  in  the  eighth  generation  from  the  Burnhams  of  Hatfield 
in  Herefordshire,  England,  was  connected  through  his  grandmother,  Emily  Burt 
Burnham,  with  the  Burts  of  Longmeadow — Capt.  Calvin,  Capt.  David,  and  others 
of  the  line,  who  served  in  the  Indian  and  Revolutionary  wars,  going  back  through 
nine  generations,  to  Henry  Burt  of  Springfield  in  1638.  Rev.  Mr.  Harding,  in  the 
address  at  his  funeral,  said :  "As  chief  of  artillery  and  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Baird, 
Lieut.  Burnham  had  been  assisting  in  the  difficult  task  of  conducting  the  artillery 
over  Lookout  Mountain",  when  he  fell  on  the  battle-field  of  Chickamauga,  while  in 
command  of  his  battery.  To  one  of  the  Sixteenth  Regulars,  who  hurried  to  him  as  he 
fell  with  the  question,  '  Lieutenant,  are  you  hurt  ? '  his  answer  was,  '  Not  much  ;  but 
save  the  guns  ! '  He  then  asked  for  water.  One  of  his  lieutenants  was  soon  after  at 
his  side,  and  said,  '  Burnham,  do  you  know  me  ? '  Opening  his  eyes  faintly,  he  mur- 
murmured,  '  On  with  the  Eighteenth  ! '  and  never  spoke  again.  He  died  at  his  post, 
serving  his  guns,  surrounded  by  his  brave  men,  in  the  very  heat  and  ardor  of  the 
battle,  shot  through  the  breast.  There  for  us  and  his  country  he  poured  out  his 
noble  blood.  It  was  a  willing  sacrifice.  What  pleasant  memories  have  we  all  of 
that  manly,  open,  handsome  face,  that  laughing  eye,  that  beamed  so  keen  with  honor 
and  with  friendship.  We  knew  him  as  one  who  scorned  from  his  deepest  soul  all 


285 

meanness  and  untruth  and  deceit.  We  think  of  him  as  the  type  of  gentlemanly 
bearing  and  the  model  of  courtesy.  He  all  along  was  unconsciously  fitting  himself 
for  the  career  that  was  to  distinguish  his  opening  manhood.  Full  six  feet  high  and 
finely  proportioned,  he  became  a  proficient  in  manly  sports  and  feats  of  strength; 
was  a  great  walker,  and  perfectly  at  home  in  the  saddle." 

A  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Herald,  from  its  army  correspondent,  says : 
"  Among  the  batteries  lost  was  the  famous  Battery  H  of  the  Fifth  Artillery.  At 
Shiloh  it  figured  as  TerrilFs,  that  officer  then  commanding,  christening  it  on  that 
memorable  day  when  it  and  others  saved  the  day.  At  Stone  River  it  again  came  to 
the  rescue,  this  time  of  McCook ;  and  under  Lieut.  Guenther  it  was  now  baptized 
with  his  name.  Recently  Lieut.  Howard  M.  Burnham  came  into  command ;  and 
again  for  a  third  time,  under  a  third  gallant  commander,  Battery  H  came  to  the  res- 
cue. I  knew.  Burnham  and  Fessenden  and  Ludlow  well.  Their  quarters  lay  on  my 
route  to  headquarters,  and  I  never  passed  them  without  a  pleasant  greeting  and  a 
cheerful  word.  They  were  each  men  of  unusual  worth.  Burnham  is  killed  and  the 
others  wounded  and  captured.  All  have  fallen  nobly,  and  though  the  battery  ceases 
to  exist,  the  story  of  their  worth  and  heroism  will  not  perish.  '  Though  the  field  be 
lost,  all  is  not  lost,'  when  the  smoke  of  battle  dissolves  to  reveal  the  tableau  of  these 

young  men  perishing  over  their  guns At  one  time  the  regulars,  hard  pressed, 

had  the  misfortune  to  be  separated.  A  battalion  of  the  Sixteenth  Infantry  was  cut 
off  and  nearly  all  captured.  Major  Coolidge  was  killed,  Dawson  and  Miller,  Clark, 
Mills,  Crofton,  Adair,  and  Meridith  wounded  ;  Burnham  dead,  and  the  men  and 
horses  of  his  battery  lying  in  heaps  around  him,  with  his  lieutenants  too  badly 
wounded  to  command,  the  brigade  broken,  badly  repulsed,  leaving  the  now  immova- 
ble battery  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels."  The  same  correspondent  adds :  "  The 
charge  of  that  corps  should  go  down  to  posterity  in  language  that  would  insure  the 
immortality  of  the  story.  Moving  with  admirable  precision,  yet  with  great  rapidity, 
the  line  never  wavered,  as  the  enemy,  attempting  to  make  a  stand,  would  for  a  mo- 
ment halt,  and  turn  upon  the  terrible  line  of  leaping  flame  which  pursued  him.  The 
incidents  of  that  charge  cannot  be  told.  A  thousand  are  crowding  the  note  book  of 
my  memory ;  but  I  dare  not  stop  now  to  tell  how  noble  Burnham  and  Ludlow  and 
Fessenden,  with  thirty  men  and  fifty  horses  killed,  fell,  over  their  captured  guns,  nor 
how  the  battery  was  retaken,  nor  how  the  Sixteenth  Infantry  threw  itself  away 
against  the  wall  of  flame  that  licked  it  up  till  only  one  wounded  'captain  and  twenty 
men  remained.  I  cannot  now  detail  how  volunteers  and  regulars  vied  with  each 
other  for  the  honor  of  the  day.  God  knows  they  won  glory  enough  to  cover  all." 

FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF  CORPORAL  ISAAC  COOMES. 

COMPANY  I,  THIRTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT,  MASSACHUSETTS  VOLUNTEERS. 

YELLOW  TAVERN,  NEAR  FORT  WARREN,  IN  CAMP  ) 

ABOUT  THREE  MILES  SOUTH  OF  PETERSBURG, 

ON  THE  WELDON  RAILROAD.  ) 

Sunday  morning  about  3  o'clock,  April  2,  1865,  the  last  week  of  the  war,  my  regi- 
ment was  put  in  position  with  a  part  of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps  behind  the  breast- 
works of  the  Vermont  brigade's  picket-line  at  Petersburg,  to  charge  the  rebel 
works.  Our  picket-line  kept  firing  to  prevent  the  rebels  from  hearing  the  npise  we 
made  in  being  massed.  The  rebel  picket-line  vigorously  returned  the  fire,  killing 
and  wounding  several  of  our  men.  As  we  lay  behind  the  breastworks  the  pickets 
stopped  firing.  The  stillness  became  oppressive,  when  suddenly  a  Vermont  picket 


286 

sang  out,  "  Johnny  !  anybody  hurt  over  there  ? "  Answer  from  a  rebel  picket :  "  No- 
body hurt,"  and  at  the  same  time  crying  out  "  Yank,  Yank,  any  one  hurt  over 
there  ? "  "  No,"  was  the  reply,  "  your  bullets  all  went  over  us."  The  Thirty-seventh 
was  in  the  front  line.  I  was  the  left  man  of  the  regiment.  I  asked  my  captain, 
Edward  Gray,  where  we  were  going  in.  He  said,  "  between  the  two  forts."  There 
were  some  thirty-six  miles  of  forts  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  apart  in  our  front.  It 
was  very  dark  as  the  order  came  down  the  line  to  advance.  I  went  over  our  breast- 
work with  the  rest  at  double-quick.  The  rebels  heard  us,  and  as  far  as  I  could  see 
to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  long  streams  of  fire  were  flashed  from  their  guns.  We 
had  orders  not  to  fire.  I  had  got  ahead  of  my  company.  Coming  back  in  the  dark 
to  find  them,  I  got  mixed  up  with  another  regiment.  The  men  were  in  broken 
ranks  and  not  advancing.  I  turned  and  ran  towards  the  rebel  works,  hoping  to  join 
my  regiment,  which  I  supposed  was  in  front.  Many  soldiers  were  hurrying  the  same 
way,  but  not  in  line.  The  rebel  pickets  fell  back.  Both  forts  to  the  right  and  the 
left  were  firing  shells  at  us.  I  reached  the  rebel  abattis,  and  stopping,  found  myself 
alone.  The  forts  had  ceased  firing.  What  to  make  of  it  I  did  not  know.  Turning 
back,  on  a  run,  I  found  Union  soldiers  lying  down  in  battle  line.  I  had  not  heard 
the  order  to  lie  down  ;  still  thought  myself  left  behind  by  the  Thirty-seventh,  and 
turned  again  for  trie  rebel  works.  After  running  a  few  rods,  a  blaze  of  fire  burst 
from  a  long  battle-line.  "  The  Thirty-Seventh  must  be  going  in  here,"  thought  I. 
"  This  is  why  they  fire  so  fast."  So  I  ran  the  faster.  The  bullets  flew  like  hailstones. 
I  was  alone  and  directly  in  the  range  of  the  fire.  "  If  I  get  killed  here  no  one  will 
know  where  I  fell,"  thought  I.  I  felt  afraid,  although  I  had  been  in  twenty  battles 
before  and  not  afraid.  But  somehow  the  fear  left  me,  for  it  seemed  as  if  I  was  sur- 
rounded and  borne  along  by  unseen  spirits.  I  felt  a  strange  sense  of  safety  and 
deliverance,  almost  exhilaration.  I  flew  along  across  the  field  of  death  till  I  came 
within  ten  feet  of  a  battle-line  before  I  knew  it.  The  flash  of  the  guns  showed  them 
to  be  the  enemy.  My  bayonet  was  fixed  and  my  seven-shooter  Spencer  rifle  ready 
to  fire.  The  thought  that  came  into  my  mind  was  "  If  they  don't  touch  me  I  will 
let  them  alone."  They  had  just  delivered  their  fire  and  brought  their  guns  to  the 
ground.  Standing  in  long  double  line  they  were  drawing  the  rammers  to  load.  I 
darted  through  their  ranks.  The  men  to  the  right  and  left  turned  their  faces  toward 
me  in  a  kind  of  dazed  way,  but  I  went  through  so  quick  that  they  did  not  have  time  to 
gather  up  their  senses  to  stop  me.  Running  a  few  rods  directly  for  their  works  in 
the  rear,  I  thought :  "  Now,  if  I  fire  my  gun  pointing  towards  the  rebel  works,  our 
men  will  see  the  flash  and  will  hurry  up."  So  I  fired  six  bullets  in  quick  succession. 
Then  throwing  the  last  one  into  my  gun  I  dropped  upon  the  ground  to  load.  As  I 
pushed  the  magazine  over  six  more  bullets  I  heard  some  one  running  behind  me.  I 
turned  and  it  was  a  man  in  blue.  "  Where  did  you  come  from  ? "  said  I.  "  I  came 
through  them,"  said  he.  We  were  near  the  rebel  abattis.  As  we  looked  up  through 
the  dim  light  to  the  rebel  breastworks,  he  shouted,  "  There  goes  a  battle-flag  ;  if  we 
can  only  capture  it ! "  But  the  man  who  carried  the  flag  quickly  disappeared.  I 
took  a  path  through  the  abattis,  closely  followed  by  my  companion,  who  was  a  ser- 
geant of  the  Fifth  Wisconsin  regiment  of  my  brigade.  We  ran  up  and  over  the 
main  breastworks  and,  strange  to  say,  not  a  soldier,  Confederate  or  Union,  was  in 
sight.  I  took  one  of  the  company  streets  and  went  through  the  Confederate  camp. 
At  the  end  of  this  street  there  was  an  officer  seated  on  the  ground  and  wrapped  in 
a  military  cloak.  "  What  ails  you  ?  "  said  I,  and  as  I  spoke, — flash  !  flash  ! — and  a 
dozen  bullets  came  whizzing  by  my  head.  I  raised  my  gun  and  fired  four  bullets 


287 

back,  saying  to  the  sergeant,  "  We  had  better  get  out  of  this."  We  turned  for  the 
breastworks  and  as  we  neared  them  were  cheered  by  the  appearance  of  Union  sol- 
diers scrambling  over.  They  had  no  officers.  It  seemed  to  be  a  free  rush,  but  I 
never  in  my  life  felt  so  happy,  for  I  knew  then  that  their  main  line  must  be  broken 
and  the  war  must  soon  be  ended.  I  said  to  the  first  one  I  met,  a  tall,  strong  soldier 
from  the  Fifth  Wisconsin,  "  There  goes  a  reb  into  that  log-house."  Rushing  to 
the  door  he  kicked  it  in,  at  the  same  time  shouting,  "  Where  is  he  ?  Where  is  he  ?  " 
The  soldier  came  out  and  surrendered.  At  the  end  of  the  street  we  found  the  same 
officer  crouched  on  the  ground,  who  then  said  he  was  wounded,  and  we  lifted  him  up. 
The  force  that  had  fired  at  me  at  this  place  had  fallen  back.  As  daylight  broke  in 
the  east  the  Union  regiments  came  pouring  over  the  main  breastworks  in  battle-line. 
The  first  regiment  to  the  right  was  from  New  York.  They  rushed  ahead  with  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  flying  in  their  front,  when  an  officer  shouted  "  Halt !  you  will  get 
flanked ! "  but  it  was  a  false  alarm.  About  fifty  rods  in  advance  of  this  regiment 
led  out  a  good  road  down  which  a  Confederate  supply  train  was  making  its  best  time. 
The  drivers  were  running  their  teams  as  fast  as  they  could.  I  exchanged  a  number 
of  shots  with  their  guards  and  helped  capture  a  part  of  the  train.  When  at  last  I 
found  my  company  I  learned  that  the  Thirty-seventh  had  captured  the  fort  at  our 
right  with  its  cannon  and  battle-flag.  We  then  moved  on  towards  Petersburg.  My 
company  was  detailed  as  skirmishers  to  go  in  advance  of  the  regiment.  After  mov- 
ing in  the  rear  of  the  rebel  works  for  about  two  miles  we  halted.  The  rebels  were 
firing  shells  from  one  of  their  forts  in  the  rear  upon  our  backs.  But  the  Union 
troops  soon  took  this  fort.  A  good-looking  house  stood  about  twenty  rods  in  ad- 
vance of  us.  Captain  Gray  said  :  "  Ike,  can't  you  get  up  there  and  see  what's  in 
it  ? "  I  went  alone,  but  found  nothing  but  the  furniture  in  it.  Guns  were  lying  on 
the  ground,  which  its  occupants  had  left  in  their  haste  to  get  away.  A  large  barn 
stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  These  buildings  bordered  on  a  ravine  where 
the  first  brook  to  the  south  of  Petersburg  crosses  the  main  highway.  To  the  north 
of  this  ravine  and  not  twenty  rods  away  stood  two  rebel  forts  well  manned  with  can- 
non and  men.  I  shouted  to  my  captain,  "  Here  is  a  good  place  for  cover."  He 
quickly  ordered  our  men  up,  and  here  we  stayed  till  the  next  morning.  The  rebel 
sharpshooters  tried  their  best  to  pick  us  off,  but  the  building  protected  us.  For 
more  than  an  hour  we  held  the  place  alone.  Then  other  skirmishers  were  connected 
with  us  to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  A  number  of  these  unprotected  men  were  killed. 
The  land  in  front  was  all  cleared,  except  a  little  piece  of  timber  about  one  hundred 
rods  ahead.  Suddenly  out  of  this  piece  of  woods  deployed  into  the  open  field  a  long 
line  of  rebel  troops.  An  officer  riding  a  white  horse  began  to  form  them  in  battle- 
line  about  fifty  rods  in  advance  of  us.  With  others  of  my  comrades  I  fired  at  him 
time  after  time  as  he  rode  so  bravely  up  and  down  forming  his  battle-line.  But  he 
seemed  to  bear  a  charmed  life.  His  men  lay  down  and  then  the  horse  and  rider  dis- 
appeared. Some  Ohio  sharpshooters  came  into  the  barn  to  help  us.  After  that  it 
was  not  safe  for  the  rebels  in  the  forts  to  show  themselves.  I  went  into  the  house 
and  found  beans  and  flour  that  the  Johnnies  had  left.  Live  coals  still  glowed  in  the 
fireplace,  on  which  I  soo.n  had  the  beans  cooking,  and  up  stairs  I  found  a  good 
feather-bed,  which  made  me  think  of  home.  I  was  so  tired,  not  having  slept  for  two 
nights,  that  I  tried  for  a  few  minutes  to  sleep  on  that  bed  ;  but  it  was  too  soft  for  a 
soldier.  Meanwhile,  too  many  guns  were  cracking  for  a  good  sleep.  That  night  the 
firing  stopped.  Next  morning  we  moved  on  through  Petersburg  to  the  final  battle 
of  the  war  at  Sailor's  Creek. 
38 


288 


T.— CIVIL  LIST. 

This  list  includes  those  who  have  represented  the  Precinct  and  Town 
as  Clerks,  Representatives,  Senators,  Members  of  Constitutional  Con- 
ventions, and  Selectmen. 

TOWN  CLERKS. 


1716.     Jonathan  Ely. 

1812-20. 

Chester  Woolworth. 

1717.     Samuel  Stebbins. 

1820-51. 

William  White. 

1718-51.     Jonathan  Ely. 

^si-sa- 

David  Booth. 

1751-75.     Jonathan  Stebbins. 

1853- 

Dimond  Chandler. 

1775-83.    Jonathan  Hale,  Jr. 

1854-56. 

Henry  J.  Crooks. 

1783-91.     Jonathan  Hale,  Jr. 

1856. 

James  L.  Pratt. 

1791-93.     Daniel  Stebbins. 

1857. 

Oliver  Wolcott. 

1793-1813.     Jabez  Colton. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

1784.     Nathaniel  Ely. 

1837- 

Elijah  Colton. 

1785-86.     Gideon  Burt. 

1838. 

Calvin  Burt. 

1787.     Elihu  Colton. 

1839-40. 

Gad  O.  Bliss. 

1788-89.     William  Stebbins. 

1841-42. 

Ethan  Taylor. 

1791-92.    Jabez  Colton. 

1843. 

Calvin  Burt. 

1794-95.     Gideon  Burt. 

1844. 

Jacob  Colton,  Jr. 

1800.     Hezekiah  Hale. 

1845-46. 

Lorin  Burt. 

1801.     Gideon  Burt. 

1847-48. 

Alford  Cooley. 

1802-03.     Nathaniel  Ely. 

1849-50. 

Burgess  Salsbury. 

1804.     Hezekiah  Hale. 

1851-52. 

Dimond  Colton. 

1805-13.     Ethan  Ely. 

1853- 

Oliver  Dwight. 

1813-14.     Calvin  Burt. 

i854. 

Rial  Strickland. 

1815-16.     Alexander  Field. 

1855-56- 

Stephen  T.  Colton. 

1818-19.    Joseph  W.  Cooley. 

1860. 

Roderick  H.  Burnham. 

1821.     Oliver  Bliss. 

1862. 

Luther  Markham. 

1826.     Elijah  Colton. 

1864. 

D.  Erskine  Burbank. 

1827-30.     Seth  Taylor. 

1866. 

Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1830.     Elisha  Burn  ham. 

1869. 

Larone  Hills. 

(  Elisha  Burnham. 

1872. 

Oliver  Wolcott. 

3I<   |  Seth  Taylor. 

1875- 

Thomas  F.  Cordis. 

1832-33.     Seth  Taylor. 

1878. 

Eleazer  S.  Beebe. 

1834.    Oliver  Bliss. 

1882. 

Charles  S.  Newell. 

1835-37.     Burgess  Salsbury. 

1856.     Gad  O.  Bliss. 


SENATORS. 

1863.    Thomas  L.  Chapman. 


MEMBERS  OF  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTIONS. 
1820.    Calvin  Burt.  1853.     Gad  O.  Bliss. 


289 

SELECTMEN. 

CALLED   COMMITTEE  OF  THE   PRECINCT   DOWN   TO    1783. 

1714.  Col.   Pynchon,  Capt.  Coltqn,  Joseph   Cooley,  Nathaniel   Burt,  George 

Colton. 

1715.  Col.  Pynchon,  Capt.  Colton,  Nathaniel  Burt,  Jr.,  Samuel  Keep,  George 

Colton. 

1716.  Col.  Pynchon,  Sergt.  Cooley,  Corp.  Burt,  Samuel  Keep,  Thomas  Bliss,  2d. 

1717.  Col.  Pynchon,  Thomas  Colton,  Nathaniel  Bliss,  Ephraim  Colton,  Joseph 

Cooley. 

1718-19.  Ephraim  Colton,  Joseph  Cooley,  Thomas  Bliss,  2d.' 

1720.  Joseph  Cooley,  Samuel  Keep,  Samuel  Stebbins. 

1721.  Ephraim  Colton,  Thomas  Hale,  Samuel  Stebbins. 

1722.  Lieut.  Colton,  Ensign  Keep,  Samuel  Stebbins. 

1723.  Thomas  Bliss,  2d,  Samuel  Stebbins,  Samuel  Cooley. 

1724.  Samuel  Keep,  Samuel  Stebbins,  Thomas  Bliss,  3d. 

1725.  Nathaniel  Bliss,  Jr.,  Eliakim  Cooley,  Jonathan  Ely. 

1726.  Eliakim  Ely,  Nathaniel  Bliss,  Jr.,  Thomas  Hale. 
1727-28.  Eliakim  Cooley,  Jonathan  Nash,  George  Colton. 

1729.  Thomas  Colton,  Eliakim  Cooley,  Jonathan  Ely. 

1730.  Nathaniel  Bliss,  Jr.,  William  Stebbins,  Samuel  Cooley. 

1731.  Thomas  Bliss,  2d,  Thomas  Bliss,  3d,  Ebenezer  Colton. 

1732.  Samuel  Cooley,  Thomas  Bliss,  3d,  Timothy  Nash. 

1733.  Thomas  Bliss,  2d,  Nathaniel  Bliss,  Jr.,  Thomas  Colton. 

1734.  Samuel  Colton,  Samuel  Cooley,  Timothy  Nash. 

1735.  Ebenezer  Bliss,  ist,  John  Cclton,  John  Cooley. 

1736.  Ephraim  Colton,  Thomas  Colton,  Ensign  Stebbins. 

1737.  Timothy  Nash,  Samuel  Cooley,  John  Burt,  2d. 

1738.  Thomas  Field,  Thomas  Colton,  Simon  Colton. 

1739.  John  Cooley,  Thomas  Bliss,  David  Burt,  2d. 

1740.  Jonathan  Stebbins,  Ephraim  Colton,  John  Colton. 

1741.  Isaac  Colton,  Nathaniel  Bliss,  John  Cooley. 

1742.  Henry  Wolcott,  Nathan  Burt,  Jr.,  John  Colton. 

1743.  Samuel  Cooley,  Joshua  Field,  Isaac  Colton. 

1744.  William  Stebbins,  Ephraim  Colton,  Jr.,  Samuel  Keep,  Jr. 

1745.  Ephraim  Colton,  John  Colton,  Jonathan  Stebbins. 

1746.  Nathaniel  Burt,  Jr.,  Simon  Colton,  David  Burt,  2d. 
1747-49.  Simon  Colton,  David  Burt,  2d,  Nathaniel  Burt,  Jr. 

1750.  Simon  Colton,  David  Burt,  2d,  Nathaniel  Ely. 

1751.  Nathaniel  Burt,  Simon  Colton,  Nathaniel  Ely. 

1752.  Nathaniel  Ely,  2d,  Josiah  Cooley,  David  Burt,  2d. 

1753.  Nathaniel  Ely,  2d,  Josiah  Cooley,  David  Burt,  2d. 

1754.  Josiah  Cooley,  Nathaniel  Ely,  2d,  Aaron  Colton. 

1755.  Moses  Field,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Aaron  Colton. 

1756.  George  Colton,  Simon  Colton,  David  Burt. 

1757.  Josiah  Cooley,  Jonathan  Hale,  David  Burt. 

1758.  Moses  Field,  Matthew  Keep,  Josiah  Cooley. 

1759.  Richard  Woolworth,  Eleazer  Smith,  Nathaniel  Ely. 


290 

1760.  Josiah  Cooley,  Jonathan  Hale,  Eleazer  Smith. 

1761.  Nehemiah  Stebbins,  David  Burt,  Noah  Hale. 

1762.  Ebenezer  Bliss,  3d,  Josiah  Cooley,  Abner  Bliss. 

1763.  Aaron  Colton,  Jonathan  Hale,  Moses  Field. 

1764.  Nehemiah  Stebbins,  Simon  Colton,  Eleazer  Smith. 

1765.  Moses  Field,  Ebenezer  Bliss,  ad,  David  Burt,  3d. 

1766.  Samuel  Williams,  Eleazer  Smith,  Nehemiah  Stebbins. 

1767.  Simeon  Colton,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Moses  Field. 

1768.  Nehemiah  Stebbins,  Aaron  Colton,  David  Burt,  3d. 

1769.  Ebenezer  Bliss,  3d,  David  Burt,  3d,  Nehemiah  Stebbins. 

1770.  Samuel  Williams,  Ebenezer  Bliss,  3d,  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr. 

1771.  Samuel  Williams,  Ebenezer  Bliss,  3d,  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr. 

1772.  Samuel  Williams,  Aaron  Colton,  Nathaniel  Burt. 
X773-  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr.,  Samuel  Williams,  David  Burt,  3d. 
1774.  Richard  Woolworth,  Samuel  Colton,  Aaron  Colton. 
X775-  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr.,  Ebenezer  Bliss,  3d,  Aaron  Bliss. 

1776.  Nathaniel  Burt,  Caleb  Cooley,  Elijah  Burt,  Silas  Hale,  Stephen  Keep. 

1777.  Samuel  Colton,  Nathaniel  Burt,   Richard  Woolworth,  Ephraim  Brown, 

Jonathan  Burt,  2d. 

1778.  Nathaniel  Burt,  David  Burt,  Elijah  Burt. 

1779.  Samuel  Williams,  Henry  Colton,  Silas  Hale,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Ebenezer 

Colton. 

1780.  Samuel  Keep,  Nathaniel  Burt,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Burt,  2d, 

Josiah  Cooley. 

1781.  Nathaniel   Burt,  Elijah   Burt,   Israel   Colton,  Josiah   Cooley,  Jonathan 

Hale,  Jr. 

1782.  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr.,  Josiah  Cooley,  Silas  Hale,  Azariah  Woolworth,  Abner 

Colton. 

1783.  Festus  Colton,  Josiah  Cooley,  Samuel  Keep,  Elijah  Burt,  Abner  Hale. 
1783-84.  David  Burt,  Moses  Field,  Jonathan  Burt. 

1785-86.  Moses  Field,  Jonathan  Burt,  Samuel  Keep. 

1787-88.  Moses  Field,  William  Stebbins,  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr. 

1789.  Jonathan  Burt,  Jabez  Colton,  Jonathan  Hale,  Jr. 

1790.  Jabez  Colton,  Jonathan  Burt,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr. 
1791-93.  Hezekiah  Hale,  Jonathan  Burt,  Nathaniel  Ely,  2d. 

1794-96.  Jonathan  Burt,  2d,  Hezekiah  Hale,  Gideon  Burt,  vice  Jonathan  Burt, 

deceased. 

1797-99.  Hezekiah  Hale,  Elijah  Burt,  Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr. 

1800-01.  Hezekiah  Hale,  Joseph  W.  Cooley,  Gideon  Burt. 

1802-03.  Hezekiah  Hale,  Joseph  W.  Cooley,  Nathaniel  Ely. 

1804-06.  Joseph  W.  Cooley,  Calvin  Burt,  Ethan  Ely. 

1807-12.  Alexander  Field,  Ethan  Ely,  Stephen  Taylor. 

1813-14.  Alexander  Field,  Ethan  Ely,  Stephen  Taylor. 

1815.  Ethan  Ely,  Alexander  Field,  Joseph  W.  Cooley. 

1816.  Ethan  Ely,  Alexander  Field,  Seth  Taylor. 

1817.  Ethan  Ely,  Alexander  Field,  Joseph  W.  Cooley. 

1818.  Joseph  W.  Cooley,  Ethan  Ely,  David  Booth. 

1819.  Joseph  W.  Cooley,  Oliver  Dwight,  Ethan  Ely. 


29 1 

1820.  Ethan  Ely,  Oliver  Dwight,  Elijah  Colton. 

1821.  Oliver  Dwight,  Oliver  Bliss,  Elijah  Colton. 
1822-23.  Oliver  Dwight,  Oliver  Bliss,  Alexander  Field. 

1824.  Seth  Taylor,  Elijah  Colton,  Joseph  W.  Cooley. 

1825.  Seth  Taylor,  Elijah  Colton,  William  White. 
1826-29.  Herman  Newell,  Burgess  Salsbury,  Joseph  Ashley. 

1830.  Elijah  Colton,  Ethan  Taylor,  Stephen  Ashley. 

1831.  Stephen  Ashley,  Burgess  Salsbury,  Elijah  Colton. 

1832.  Elijah  Colton,  Burgess  Salsbury,  William  White. 
1833-34.  Burgess  Salsbury,  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Oliver  Dwight. 
1835-36.  Burgess  Salsbury,  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Lorin  Burt. 

1837.  Burgess  Salsbury,  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Elijah  Colton. 

1838.  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Elijah  Colton,  Ethan  Taylor. 

1839.  Oliver  Dwight,  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Willis  Phelps. 

1840.  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Simeon  Newell,  Stephen  Ashley. 

1841.  Gad  O.  Bliss,  Simeon  Newell,  Willis  Phelps. 

1842.  Simeon  Newell,  Willis  Phelps,  Joseph  McGregory. 

1843.  Lorin  Burt,  Dimond  Colton,  Joseph  McGregory. 

1844.  Lorin  Burt,  Joseph  McGregory,  Simeon  Newell. 
1845-46.  Simeon  Newell,  Lorin  Burt,  Daniel  Burbank. 

'1847-48.  Alford  Cooley,  Warren  Billings,  Simeon  Newell. 

1849-50.  Alford  Cooley,  Warren  Billings,  Oliver  Dwight. 

1851.  Alford  Cooley,  Elias  Coomes,  Randolph  Stebbins. 

1852-53.  Alford  Cooley,  Stephen  T.  Colton,  Randolph  Stebbins. 

1854.  Randolph  Stebbins,  Stephen  T.  Colton,  William  Higley. 

1855.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  Alfred  Taylor,  Sumner  W.  Gates. 
1856-57.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  Alfred  Taylor,  Lucius  C.  Burt. 
1858-59.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  William  Burt,  Lucius  C.  Burt. 
1860-62.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  David  Lathrop,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 
1863-65.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  David  Lathrop,  Horace  Hills. 

1866.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  Charles  S.  Newell,  George  W.  Gould. 

1867.  Stephen  T.  Colton,  Charles  S.  Newell,  Randolph  Stebbins. 

1868.  George  W.  Gould,  Charles  S.  Newell,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 
1869-70.  Charles  S.  Newell,  George  W.  Gould,  Ralph  P.  Markham. 
!87i-73-  Charles  S.  Newell,  John  C.  Porter,  Edwin  Endicott. 

1874.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edwin  Endicott,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1875.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1876.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  Edwin  Endicott. 

1877.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1878.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  David  Lathrop. 

1879.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  David  Lathrop. 

1880.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1881.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1882.  Charles  S.  Newell,  Edward  P.  Tabor,  Abel  H.  Calkins. 

1883.  John  C.  Porter,  J.  A.  McKinstry,  Henry  Hall. 

1884.  J.  A.  McKinstry,  3  years ;  H.  Hall,  2  years ;  J.  C.  Porter,  I  year. 


292 


U.— MISCELLANIES. 

The  few  following  unclassified  papers  are   taken  from  a  portfolio 
still  rich  in  similar  memoranda,  which  must  be  reluctantly  omitted  : 


The  Sacramental  meditations  and  prayers  scattered  all  through  the  diary 
of  Dr.  Williams  are  very  touching  in-  their  simplicity  and  humility,  as  well 
as  striking  in  their  variety  and  fitness.  The  following,  from  the  Revolu- 
tionary period  (see  p.  209),  is  inserted  in  this  connection : 

July  6,  1776.  The  times  are  to  me  very  dark  and  I  know  not  what  to  do.  And  I 
fear  that  there  is  a  great  ftupidity  among  people  in  general,  from  not  feeing  and  re- 
garding the  hand  of  God  gone  out  againft  us.  I  would  bewail  my  own  ftupidity  and 
infenfibility,  and  pray  to  God  to  awaken  and  aroufe  me,  and  caufe  me  to  humble 
myfelf  before  God  for  my  fins,  my  defecls,  my  leannefs.  I  would  upon  this  occa- 
fion  call  to  mind  God's  great  goodnefs  to  me,  in  that  I  was  born  in  a  land  of  light, 
that  my  parents  feared  God  and  were  concerned  for  my  welfare,  taught  me,  coun- 
felled  me  and  inftrudled  me  in  the  good  knowledge  of  the  Lord.  I  was  awakened 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  when  I  was  young,  (even  before  I  was  taken  captive),  and 
was  put  upon  the  practice  of  fecret  prayer.  I  was  remarkably  preferved  when  a 
captive,  and  reflored  to  my  native  country,  and  I  have  been  remarkably  preferved 
when  abroad ;  I  may  fay  that  God  has  borne  me  from  my  birth,  nurfed,  protected 
and  upheld  me,  and  has  brought  me  to  old  age,  and  I  need,  under  the  decays  and 
infirmities  of  age,  His  help  as  much  as  I  needed  it  in  infancy.  Bleffed  be  God  (who 
is  the  fame  to-day,  yefterday  and  forever),  that  he  encourages  me  to  look  to  Him  by 
prayer  and  fupplication  ;  I  pray  that  He  would  fupport  and  comfort  me — even  in  my 
old  age,  when  I  am  unfit  for  bufmefs  under  fenfible  decays  and  infirmities.  Oh 
Lord,  when  my  flefh  and  my  heart  fhall  fail  do  thou  be  pleafed  to  be  the  ftrength  of 
my  heart  and  my  portion  forever.  Oh,  make  me  meet  for  the  enjoyment  of  thyfelf. 
And  O  Lord,  be  pleafed  to  blefs  my  confort,  her  and  my  children  and  defcendants  ; 
this  flock,  and  town ;  this  land,  and  the  Englifh  nation.  Forgive  our  fins,  reftrain 
and  help  us,  and  prevent  the  deftruclion  we  are  threatened  wiih.  -Oh  that  God 
would  give  me  fome  token  for  good  at  this  table,  and  prepare  me  for  my  great  and 
laft  change  which  is  near.  Oh  for  the  manifeftations  of  God's  love  to  my  poor  foul ; 
that  His  rod  and  ftaff  might  comfort  me  when  I  pafs  through  the  valley  of  the 
(hadow  of  death.  Oh  for  a  fight  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jefus  Chrift. 
The  Lord  be  pleafed  to  blefs  Zion,  and  grant  peace  to  the  Ifrael  of  God.  Prepare 
us  in  this  land  for  what  is  before  us.  Oh  Lord  don't  leave  u>,  I  befeech  thee,  but 
heal  our  backflidings  and  love  us  freely  for  Chrift's  fake.  Amen. 

[After  Sabbath  and  Sacrament]  :  I  have  been  ftrengthened  to  the  fervices  of  the 
day,  and  though  I  don't  pretend  to  any  rapturous  difcoveries,  yet  I  hope  I  have  fome 
fenfe  of  the  goodnefs  and  majefty  of  God,  of  His  holinefs  and  of  the  obligations  I 
am  laid  under  to  Him ;  that  His  vows  are  upon  me  ;  the  Lord  help  me  to  fulfill  my 
vows.  We  had  a  quiet  Sabbath,  no  fright,  nor  flight  thereon ;  for  this  I  praife  God, 
and  I  beg  of  God  to  pour  out  upon  us,  of  this  family  and  of  this  place,  a  fpirit  of 
repentance,  that  we  may  be  kept  from  dishonoring  God.  The  Lord  grant  that  the 
ways  of  the  Lord  may  not  be  evil  fpoken  of,  by  reafon  of  unjuft  converfation,  and 
loofe  and  carelefs  lives  and  behaviour.  The  Lord  be  pleafed  to  help  me  to  remem- 
ber and  bear  upon  my  mind  where  I  have  been  and  what  I  have  been  doing  this  day. 


293 

The  following  CHAPLAIN'S  PRAYER  OF  PASTOR  STORKS  is  introduced 
here  as  illustrating  the  statements  made  respecting  him  upon  page  48  : 

It  is  with  fentiments  of  pleafure,  Gentlemen,  Officers  and  Fellow  Soldiers,  that  I 
once  more  meet  you  on  the  peaceful  parade.  Whilfl  thoufands  and  ten  thoufands 
of  our  fellow  men  are  compelled  to  hearken  to  the  clarions  of  war,  and  to  witnefs  . 
garments  rolled  in  blood,  we  are  permitted  to  enjoy  all  the  felicities  of  domeftic  life 
and  are  compelled  to  meet  with  none  but  friends.  With  propriety  we  are  invited 
this  morning  to  addrefs  our  united  acknowledgements  of  gratitude  to  Him  who  gov- 
erns among  the  nations  for  thefe  diftingulhing  bleflings,  and  with  fincere  hearts  implore 
his  fmiles  upon  us  in  the  interefting  tranfactions  of  this  day. 

ALMIGHTY  AND  INFINITE  GOD — We  adore  thee  as  the  only  God — the  Creator  of 
all  worlds — the  Director  of  all  events,  and  the  difpofer  of  all  creatures.  Thou  doft 
according  to  thy  will  in  the  army  of  heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth. 
Thou  who  meeteft  out  the  bounds  of  the  nations  haft  appointed  unto  us  a  pleafant 
place,  and  given  us  a  goodly  heritage.  This  land  our  Fathers  gained  not  by  their 
own  fword  or  bow,  but  in  thy  name  they  fet  up  their  banners.  Thou  didft  fight  their 
battles  for  them  and  they  were  bleft  with  Vidory,  Freedom,  and  Independence. 

Glory  and  Honor,  Dominion  and  Praife  to  the  Lord  God  of  our  Fathers  for  this 
profperity  which  we  their  children  witnefs  as  the  reward  of  their  valor  and  piety, 
and  which  we  enjoy  as  the  precious  fruit  of  thofe  civil,  military  and  religious  inftitu- 
tions,  which  their  wifdom  led  them  to  adopt,  and  their  patriotifm  prompted  them  to 
defend. 

Thanks  be  unto  Him  who  on  all  this  glory  has  created  a  defence,  by  infpiring  our 
citizens  at  large  with  a  fpirit  of  heroifm  and  independence,  and  leading  them  to 
devife  and  eftablifh  fuch  military  arrangements  as  are  calculated  to  render  both  offi- 
cers and  foldiers  the  vigilant  guardians  and  refolute  defenders  of  our  country's 
rights. 

Actuated  by  principles  of  sincere!!  patriotifm  and  by  ardent  wilhes  for  national 
fecurity  and  peace,  may  the  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  this  honorable  Regiment  addrefs 
themfelves  to  the  faithful  and  affiduous  difcharge  of  the  Cervices  devolved  upon 
them.  May  they  prove  themfelves  to  be  experts  in  the  exercife  of  arms  and  in  the 
art  of  war,  and  whenever  the  welfare  of  their  country  (hall  be  put  in  hazard  by 
invading  foes,  may  they  quit  themfelves  like  men  and  be  ftrong,  wax  valiant  in  fight, 
and  put  to  flight  the  armies  of  their  enemies. 

Smile  upon  the  exercifes  and  maneuverings  of  this  day,  and  may  thefe  thy  fervants 
exhibit  on  this  occafion  an  example  which  their  brethren  in  arms  fhall  be  emulous  to 
imitate.  May  their  conduct  be  luch  as  fhall  do  honor  to  themfelves  and  reflect 
glory  upon  their  country. 

O  thou  Preferver  of  Men,  may  their  health,  their  limbs,  and  their  lives  be  pre- 
cious in  thy  fight.  Eminently  expofed  as  they  are  to  mifchief  and  harm,  guard  them 
againft  every  difaftrous  accident,  and  preferve  them  from  wounding  their  precious 
fouls  by  finning  againft  their  God. 

May  this,  and  ever}'  department  of  our  foldiery,  be  found  ready  to  unite  with  their 
fellow  citizens  at  large  in  repelling  everything  which  threatens  to  difturb  the  tran- 
quility,  tarnifh  the  glory,  and  impair  the  happinefs  of  our  highly  favored  nation. 

May  Officers  and  Soldiers,  Spectators,  and  all  prefent  on  this  interefting  occafion, 
imbibe  the  Spirit  of  genuine  freedom,  exprefs  the  fentiments  of  real  Patriotifm,  and 
enjoy  the  pleafures  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  And  when  in  our  feveral  con- 


294 

neclions  and  purfuits  in  life  we  (hall  have  acted  our  part  well  in  the  world — (hall 
have  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  through  grace  have  rimmed  the  Chriftian 
Warfare — may  we  be  difmiffed  in  peace  and  receive  at  the  hands  of  the  Great  Cap- 
tain of  Salvation  thofe  laurels  of  victory,  win  that  crown  of  righteoufnefs,  which  is 
unfading  and  immortal  in  the  Heavens. 

While  we  this  day  felicitate  ourfelves  and  our  fellow  citizens  in  view  of  the  rich 
bleffings,  both  of  civil  and  Chriftian  liberty,  we  would  with  the  moft  benevolent  and 
philanthropic  emotions,  remember  thofe  nations  which  are  groaning  under  the  mif- 
fortunes  of  defpotifm,  or  are  nobly  contending  for  the  rights  of  man. 

Almighty  Father — pity  thy  fuffering  offfpring !  Break,  O  break  in  pieces  the  iron 
rod  of  the  oppreffor,  and  caufe  the  oppreffed  everywhere  to  go  out  free — reftrain  the 
awful  influence  of  human  pride  and  unhallowed  ambition,  and  may  the  power  of 
iniquity  deftroyed  give  place  to  the  univerfal  and  unbounded  reign  of  righteoufnefs 
and  peace,  liberty  and  happinefs. 

May  He  whofe  right  it  is  Come,  and  to  Him  O  God,  give  the  Kingdom  and  the 
Dominion  and  the  Greatnefs  of  the  Kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven ;  for  of  Him, 
and  to  Him  and  through  Him  are  all  things — and  to  Him  with  united  hearts  help  us 
to  aftribe  all  glory  and  honor,  might  and  dominion,  forever  and  ever.  Amen. 


The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  remonstrance  addressed  by  Pastor  Storrs 
and  several  of  the  citizens  to  a  teacher  who  was  disposed  to  dispense  with 
public  prayer  as  one  of  the  regular  school  exercises  : 

To  Mr.  Henry  Fifh,  Inftruclor  of  the  Grammar  School  in  Longmeadow  : 
RESPECTED  SIR — 

We  the  Parents  and  Guardians  of  the  Children  and  youth  under  your  Care,  beg 
leave  to  ftate  to  you  an  Objection  we  have  againft  your  Proceedings  in  the  School  ; 
viz.,  that  you  do  not  pray  morning  and  evening  with  your  Icholars.  This  is  a  Duty 
commonly  expected,  and  is  generally  attended  to  by  gentlemen  of  your  Advantages 
and  Ability.  As  profeffing  Chriftians  we  are  under  great  Obligations  to  the  Chil- 
dren and  youth  God  has  Committed  to  our  Care,  and  therefore  we  Cannot  Difcharge 
our  duty  to  our  Children,  or  Juftify  ourfelves  before  God,  to  whom  we  are  Account- 
able for  our  Conduct  to  them,  unlefs  we  place  them  under  the  Care  of  thole  In- 
ftructors  who  will  fo  far  fet  before  them  Examples  of  Morality  and  Religion  as  to 
pray  with  them  morning  and  evening  in  the  School.  This  our  Requeft,  which  we 
think  to  be  a  Reafonable  one,  we  hope  you  wil  not  fail  to  comply  with  Immedi- 
ately. We  heartily  wifh  to  render  you  and  your  School  Refpectable,  and  fhall  engage 
to  do  whatever  is  in  our  power  to  make  it  fo.  We  Subfcribe  our  Selves  your  friends 
and  wellwishers.  DAVID  BURT,  STEPHEN  COOLEY,  RICHARD  S.  STORRS, 

Jan.  1807.  CALVJN  COOLEY,  GIDEON  COLTON,      NATH'  ELY. 


The  following  old  document  shows  the  effective  manner  in  which  neigh- 
borly cooperation  was  invoked  and  organized  for  the  opening  of  a  new  road 
when  needed  : 

Whereas  'Tis  Neceffary  there  Should  be  an  open  Town  Road  from  the  Town 
Road  that  Goes  out  Eaftward  by  the  Meeting  Houfe  in  the  Precincl  of  Longmead", 
Southward  to  the  Mills  on  Longmeadow  Brook,  Thro'  Nath1  Burt's  land,  fd  Road 


295 

is  not  only  Neceffary  for  the  Owners  of  f  Mills  and  the  Inhabitants  of  fd  PrecincT: 
But  alfo  for  Travelers  fromSomers,  the  Eaft  Part  of  Enfield,  Ellington,  Stafford  &c. 
And  Whereas  it  will  Occafion  a  Line  of  Fences  each  Side  the  Road  Through  t"(1 
Burt's  Land,  Which  will  be  a  Great  Hardfhip  for  him  to  Make  and  Maintain  There- 
fore all  Perfons  who  are  willing  to  Help  to  Make  fd  Fences  in  order  to  open  fd  Road, 
Either  By  Ditching,  Providing  Fencing  Stuff,  or  any  Other  Way  to  Effect  fd  Bufi- 
nefs  are  Defired  to  Set  their  Names  With  the  Sums  of  Money  or  Labour  or  fencing 
Materials  for  fd  Bufmefs  they  are  Willing  Refpeclively  to  Give  for  the  Help  of  f 
Burt,  and  for  their  own  and  the  Public  Benefit. 

Simon  Colton,  4  Days  work ;  Jona  Hale,  5  Days ;  John  Hale,  4  Days ;  David 
Burt,  3rd,  5  D" ;  Dean  Nath1  Ely,  4  D8 ;  Aaron  Colton,  3  DB ;  Ebenr  Blifs,  2nd,  3  Ds ; 
Mathew  Keep,  2  D8 ;  EbeiV  Colton,  2  D3 ;  David  Burt,  2nd,  4  D" ;  Noah  Hale,  2 
Ds ;  Aaron  Blifs,  2  Ds ;  Abner  Colton,  2  D8 ;  Henry  Colton,  2  D8 ;  Sam1  Keep,  2 
D8 ;  Tho3  Colton,  2  D8 ;  Gidn  Colton,  2  D8. 


.The  following  are  copies  of  documents  indicating  the  source  of  the 
authority  vested  in  the  Commissioners  on  the  "  Drowned  Lands  "  and  the 
manner  of  its  exercise  : 

Nov.  ii"'  1802.  A  Tax  made  by  the  fubfcribers  agreeable  to  the  power  vefted  in 
us  by  a  commimon  from  his  Excellency  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Mafs. 
dated  the  Fourth  day  of  June  1783  for  the  purpofe  of  flowing  and  draining  wet  lands 
in  the  town  of  Longmeadow  and  for  paying  Commiffioners  for  their  fervices  and 
collectors.  (Then  follow  the  proprietors' names  with  the  number  of  acres  assessed 
and  amount  per  acre.]  Signed  by  GIDEON  BURT,  )  Com.  • 

JOSIAH  COOLEY,     >         for 

SAM1  KEEP,  )  Draining. 

To  Mr  Noah  Blifs,  Collector :  You  will  fettle  the  above  Tax  and  make  returns 
to  the  Commissioners. 

To  Mr  Noah  Blifs— Sir:  In  confequence  of  the  authority  and  Power  in  us  vefted 
— We  repofing  confidence  in  your  economy  in  employing  laborers — We  do  appoint 
you  to  employ  laborers  in  draining  the  Pond  land  so  called,  and  to  employ  the  labor 
from  the  owners  of  land  at  the  proportion  of  three  hours  per  Rod — if  they  can  be 
employed— if  not  fuch  other  laborers  as  can  be  obtained.  GIDEON  BURT, 

JOSIAH  COOLEY, 

Longmeadow,  Nov.  iith,  1802.  SAM'  KEEP. 


The  following  are  copies  of  old-time  bills,  receipts,  war  certificates,  etc.: 
To  the  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of  Longmeadow — 

Gentlemen  this  is  to  Certify  that  there  is  due  to  Abiel  Hancock  for  one  day  going 
to  Elington  with  my  hourfe  after  A  School  dame  one  doller  and  to  bording  the  dame 
fix  weakes  at  five  Shillings  and  fix  Peince  by  weake. 

ABIEL  HANCOCK,  School  Commette. 
in  the  Nor  Eaft  deftricl  Longmeadow  September  the  7  1797. 

LONGMEADOW,  Feb>  7th  1784. 

this  is  to  Sertifie  that  I  give  orders  unto  Hezekiah  Hale  upon  the  paymafter, 
Whoever  it  May  Be,  to  Receive  twelve  Months  Wages  for  Which   I  Served  as  A 
39 


296 

Soldier  in  the  Continental  Army  in  Co1  patmans  Regiment  and  in  Cap'  Trotters 
Company  partly  in  the  year  1781  and  partly  in  the  year  1782.  and  alfo  What  is  Due 
unto  me  for  Defitiance  of  Cloathing  and  Rations  for  the  fame  time. 

WILLIAM  HANCOCK. 

Stephen  Afhleys  bill,  Dec.  1766.  To  making  Thos  Hancock,  a  coat,  waiftcoatand 
overalls  ;  i  doz  buttons  and  thread  and  pockets — $2.00. 

Dr  Lewis  Whites  bill.  Town  of  Longmeadow  Dr  for  doctoring  Molly  Blifs  Feb>' 
16  to  June  23,  1796.  To  a  Cathartic  17  cents — to  a  Vifit  20  cents — to  a  Puke  13 
cents — to  an  Opiate  17  cents. 

Bill  of  David  White  joiner  and  cabinet  maker,  May  1772.  To  one  Cafe  of  Draw- 
ers £4  :  o  :  o — to  one  4-foot  Table  ,£1:2:  o — to  one  Square  Table  .£0  :  12  :  o 
— to  one  Cheft  of  3  Draws  ^1:4:  o — to  a  Stand  table  £o  :  13  :  o — to  a  naff 
Dozen  Chairs  .£1:0:  o — to  a  Round  Chair  £o  :  6  :  o — to  a  Great  Common 
Chair  £0:4:  o — to  i  Day  &  £  of  a  Days  Work  ^0:4:0. 

The  following  is  among  Mr.  Williams'  college  receipts  : 

CAM*  6  ffebu>  170^,,- 

Received  of  M'  Stephen  Williams  four  pounds  in  Bills  of  Credit  in  part  for  his 
Expence  at  Colledge  to  23rd  Decr  1709.  AND'  BORDMAN, 

.£4-00-00.  .         Col.  HarrU. 


The  following  letter,  written  to  Mr.  Williams  when  a  student  at  Harvard 
College,  gives  an  interesting  glimpse,  not  only  of  his  personal  qualities  at 
that  time,  but  of  college  ways  and  atmosphere  in  those  early  days  : 
Mr  WILLIAMS — 

When  I  faw  you  laft  att  yc  Colledge  I  was  fo  Tranfported  with  ye  fight  of  Ib  many* 
of  my  old  Acquaintance  y'  I  put  all  bufmefs  together  with  good  part  of  my  Brains  in 
my  Pocket,  and  by  y'  means  forgot  to  mention  fomething  wch  upon  more  fober  thought 
I  can't  Choofe  but  concern  myfelf  about.     Sir,  my  bufmefs  is  to  enquire  of  you  (tho* 

not  inye  name  of  Elder )  whether  you  are  unprovided  of  A  Chamber  mate. 

If  fo  I  mull  tell  you  y'  Cap1  Moody's  fon  my  Pupil  takes  as  great  a  fancy  to  you  as 
Brown  did  to — you  know  what.  His  father  alfo  is  very  defirous  to  get  him  fettled 
with  fome  fenior  fchollar  who  will  fpeak  kindly  to  him  and  encourage  him  in  his 
ftudies,  and  he  has  heard  A  Great  Character  of  yourfelf.  He'll  maintain  him  like  A 
Gentleman  and  fuffer  him  to  want  for  nothing  and  nc- doubt  will  make  particular 
acknowledgments  to  any  Gentleman  y'  fhows  his  fon  any  favour.  The  Lad  is  good 
humored  and  for  good  words  will  do  anything,  but  is  apt  to  be  difcouraged  with 
harm  language  w(h  makes  me  ye  more  concerned  who  he  lives  with.  If  you'l  pleafe 
to  do  him  ye  favour  of  taking  him  into  your  Chamber  and  take  fome  Peculiar  care 
of  him  and  encourage  him  in  his  Learning  you  will  exceedingly  oblige  me  who  hav- 
ing heretofore  had  ye  care  of  him  cannot  but  intereft  myfelf  in  his  welfare. 

Sir,  I  mould  be  glad  of  A  Correfpondence  with  you  to  Barter  Eaft  Countrey  for  Well 
Countrey  News.  If  you'l  Pleafe  to  favour  me  with  a  line  att  any  time  Leave  it  att 
Cap'  Edward  Winflows  in  Bofton  and  it  will  come  fafe  to  me. 

I  am  your  Honeft  Neighbor  and  Humble  Servant,  E.  W. 

Newcaftle  on  Pifcataqua,  July  ye  30"",  1712. 

To  Mr  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS  att  Harvard  College  in  Cambridge. 


The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  ingenuous  letter  of  Abigail  Daven- 
port to  her  affianced  future  husband,  an  extract  of  which  is  given  in  the 
Historical  Address  : 
REVd  AND  WORTHY  SIR —  May  9,  1718. 

Miffing  the  opportunity  of  our  Deputies  of  Sending  a  few  Lines  which  I  thought 
not  to  have  done,  but  being  willing  to  Gratify  you  in  that  which  you  was  pleafed 
when  you  was  here  to  fay  would  be  a  particular  Gratification  to  you  in  doing  of 
which,  Good  Sir,  I  would  defire  might  not  be  for  my  being  expofed,  altho'  there  may 
be  juftly  faults  found  by  your  criticall  eye,  yet  I  would  if  I  did  but  know  how  Mod- 
eftly  crave  your  favorable  thought  hoping  thefe  may  find  you  in  good  health,  as  at 
pretent  I  am  throw  ye  goodnefs  of  God  for  which  I  defire  to  be  thankful,  and  alfo  yl 
our  family  is  fo  well  as  now  it  is,  particularly  my  father  and  mother  have  been  much 
otherwife  than  well  fince  yourfelf  was  here.  Sir  I  fliould  be  Glad  if  wn  you  come 
again  youd  order  matters  in  ye  journey  fo  y'  friends  be  not  too  much  burdened,  how 
you  Defign  I  know  not,  but  certainly  'tis  not  beft  to  Depend  upon  Relations  with  a 
Company  Unlefs  there  has  been  by  them  firft  invitation.  Sir  if  it  be  not  Contrary 
to  your  mind  y4  I  have  &  wee  together  have  Uncle  and  Aunt  Mather's  good  Com- 
pany here  att  our  houfe  if  they  can  and  will  be  pleafed  to  alow  it,  you  will  be  under 
advantage  to  Let  them  know  your  mind.  I  am  thoughtful  my  brother  and  Sister 
will  go  with  us  Defiring  to  return  together  but  not  otherwife  defiring  y*  Sarah  Shal 
Stay  a  fhort  time  if  with  your  good  Likeing,  Elfe  not  at  all.  Pleafe  Good  Sir  to  alow 
alfo  to  pardon  my  boldnefs  and  freedom  one  of  wch  you  yourfelf  urged.  One  thing 
wch  mi"  have  been  fpoken  to  but  was  not  w"  you  was  here.  Cuftomary  by  Some  to 
have  Gloves  alike  for  color,  if  you  pleafe  to  have  yr*  like  mine,  Sir  you  may  get  white. 

Valuable  Sir  be  not  angry  if  one  who  would  defire  to  be  made  a  comfort  rather 
yn  a  trouble  to  you  mould  defire  a  remembrance  by  you  in  your  petions  at  y*  throne 
of  grace  for  all  y1  Guidance  Direction  and  bleffing  wcl'  I  need  ;  and  Sir  I  truft  you 
wod  not  be  troubled  att  a  kind  entertainment  of  Lines  from  your  hand,  but  Suffer 
me  to  beg  your  pardon  once  again  for  my  fo  burdening  you  with  fuch  fcrols.  I 
would  not  be  too  tedious  but  Subfcribe  myself,  Sir,  Your  Very  Obfervant  and  hope- 
fully well  affected  ABIGAIL  DAVENPORT. 


The  following  are  copies  of  letters  written  to  Lieut.  Nathaniel  Burt,  who 
fell  at  Lake  George,  by  his  wife,  who  afterwards  became  the  second  wife  of 
Dr.  Williams,  and  by  his  daughter,  during  his  army  absence.  The  battle  in 
which  Lieut.  Burt  fell  occurred  September  8,  1855.  By  an  endorsement 
upon  the  letters  it  appears  that  they  were  "  Recd  and  perused  by  Edwd  Cha- 
pin  Sept.  11,  1755,  In  ye  Camp  at  Lake  George,"  three  days  after  the  death 
of  the  husband  and  father,  to  whom  they  were  addressed.  The  letters 
are  superscribed 

"  To  Lef  Nath1  Burt.     In  the  Army  Marching  Againft  Crown  Point." 
HONORED  FATHER — 

Sir :  Hoping  for  an  opportunity  I  take  the  fredom  in  writing  to  you  knowing  that 
your  paternal  affection  will  Excufe  all  Defects,  through  a  fovarene  and  kind^prov- 
erdence  wee  are  in  a  comfortable  ftate  of  health  at  prefent  as  I  hope  you  are.  We 
have  receved  fome  Letters  from  you  and  rejoife  to  hear  of  your  health — but  wee  are 
not  without  concern  for  you.  honered  Sir  I  wifh  a  kind  heaven  would  protect  and 


298 

gard  and  profper  you  and  Return  you  home  in  his  own  time.  Wee  have  nothing 
remarkebel  to  inform  you  of.  att  prefent  it  is  a  time  of  helth  hear.  Old  Mr  Keep 
died  hear  this  week.  So  I  remain  your  moft  obedient  and  dutifull  daughter. 

SARAH  BURT. 

We  hope  and  wait  and  truft  In  god  to  keep  and  preferve  and  return  you  In  safety. 
So  I  remain  your  afecconate  Wife,  SARAH  BURT. 

Auguft  28, 1755.    This  day  is  a  general  faft  to  be  kept  in  this  province. 


The  following  is  a  letter  of  condolence  from  Dr.  Williams  to  his  daugh- 
ter Martha,  the  grandmother  of  Mrs.  Schauffler,  upon  the  occasion  of  the 
death  of  her  husband,  Dea.  Samuel  Reynolds  of  Somers  : 
MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER —  L.  M.,  Feb>'  17,  1774. 

I  underftand  that  our  holy  and  Righteous  Sovereign  has  removed  out  of  this  fin- 
ful  world  your  defirable  confort,  the  partner  of  your  joys,  forrows,  and  cares.  God's 
ways  are  truth  and  judgment,  he  is  holy  in  all  his  ways,  and  righteous  in  all  his 
works — he  is  the  God  of  the  widow,  and  the  Father  of  the  fatherlefs — to  his  care 
and  protection  I  refer  you  and  your  dear  offfpring. 

I  got  home  laft  night  in  fafety — but  the  cold  was  uncomfortable — and  I  was  con- 
fiderably  chilled — and  before  I  went  to  bed,  as  I  went  out  at  the  door  I  fell  down, 
and  as  I  ftretched  my  hand,  to  fave  myfelf — one  of  ye  nails  of  my  fingers  was  fplit — 
which  occafions  me  fome  trouble. — if  I  fhould  not  be  able  to  attend  the  funeral — it 
will  not  be  for  want  of  refpect  to  the  dear  deceafed — or  of  affection  to  you,  your 
children,  and  friends  that  are  mourning  with  you. — but  let  us  all  remember,  that  we 
don't  mourn  as  tho'fe  that  have  no  hope,  pleafe  to  inform  dear  Mr  Backus,  that  Mr 
Breck  is  fick,  Mr  Lothrop  is  gone  down  the  country,  and  there  is  no  minifter  here 
that  can  be  obtained  to  preach.  I  am  pleafed  to  have  fermons  preached  at  funerals, 
peoples  minds  upon  fuch  occafions  are  folemnized — but  I  am  utterly  averfe  to  flat- 
tering y*  living,  or  paying  compliments  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  It  can't  be 
expected  that  Mr  B.  has  had  fuch  acquaintance  with  Dr  Raynolds  as  to  know  him 
fully — and  I  apprehend  the  circumftances  of  Somers  are  fuch  that  no  prudent  man 
would  greatly  commend  or  difcommend.  I  hope  therefore  Mr  Backus  will  be  fo  good 
as  to  prepare  fome  practical  difcourfe  for  this  mournful  occafion.  I  am,  dear  daugh- 
ter, your  affectionate  Father,  STEPHE"  WILLIAMS. 

WILLIAM  SHELDON — [A  Character  Sketch.] 

One  of  the  most  interesting  characters  of  Longmeadow  during  the  last 
half  century,  was  a  dignified  and  courtly  gentleman  of  the  old  school  of 
manners — an  unmarried  great-grandson  of  Dr.  Williams,  by  the  name  of 
William  Sheldon — only  son  of  the  well-known  Springfield  physician  of  the 
same  name  early  in  the  present  century.  The  erect  form,  silvery  hair,  and 
antique  costume  of  Mr.  Sheldon  will  be  long  remembered  by  the  present 
generation,  as  he  was  daily  seen  taking  his  "  constitutional "  walk  in  broad- 
brimmed,  bell-crowned  beaver,  blue  coat  resplendent  with  metal  buttons, 
snowy  lace  and  linen  of  the  olden  amplitude  and  fashion,  and  imposing  gold- 
headed  cane. 


299 

Full  of  racy  reminiscences  of  the  olden  time,  widely  read  in  the  best  of 
ancient  and  modern  literature,  and  gifted  with  rare  conversational  powers, 
he  was  a  singularly  instructive  and  interesting  companion.  An  intense 
aristocrat  and  loyalist  Jn  convictions  and  sympathies,  he  held  himself  wholly 
aloof  from  the  political  life  and  interests  of  the  community  around  him,  and 
devoted  himself  to  occult  researches  into  the  mysteries  of  Scripture,  Spirit- 
ualism, and  more  recently  of  Magnetism  and  the  Od  force. 

Some  of  his  experiments  in  this  last  were  singular  illustrations  of  the 
power  of  long-indulged  fancies  finally  to  rule  the  reason.  It  was  one  of  his 
fancies  that  he  could  detect  the  presence  of  any  particular  "odic"  in  any 
given  substance  by  peculiarities  in  the  vibration  of  a  ring  held  suspended  by 
a  silken  thread,  the  vibration  being  wholly  due  to  the  influence  of  the  odic 
in  the  substance  over  which  the  ring  was  suspended  ; — he  himself  seeming 
perfectly  unconscious  of  what  was  meantime  plainly  evident  to  observers, 
viz.,  that  the  impulse  of  vibration  was  wholly  communicated  from  his  own 
hand. 

It  was  another  of  his  fancies  that  he  could  detect  the  presence  of  evil 
spirits  in  his  fellow-men,  by  holding  the  ring  suspended  over  their  open  hands. 
"Ah  !  it  is  just  as  I  feared,"  was  his  sad  remark  to  a  clerical  son  of  Long- 
meadow  on  a  visit  of  the  latter  to  his  old  home  ;  "  You  are  possessed,  I  can 
see  by  the  movement  of  the  ring.''  "  Well,"  was  the  somewhat  disconcert- 
ing reply  of  the  accused  party,  "  I have  often  suspected  as  much  myself" 

Squarely-pointed  wands  were  a  part  of  the  apparatus  by  which  he  con- 
ducted his  odic  experiments — charging  them  by  his  own  will  with  mystic 
force  or  withdrawing  by  their  means  any  quality  or  influence  from  foreigji 
and  distant  places  and  substances.  It  was  his  firm  belief  that  he  could  and 
did  thus  arrest  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  at  the  South,  and  of  the  Russian 
plague  in  Europe,  as  the  following  memoranda  from  among  his  papers  will 
show : 

Mem.    To  Prevent  Cholera  and  R"  Plague  in  England.  Aug.  2  and  5,  '65. 

At  midnight  last  night  I  commenced  two  processes,  the  one  to  withdraw  the  infec- 
tion proper  of  the  Cholera  from  Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  the  British  Isles,  and  the 
other  to  withdraw  the  accompanying  Odical  Omnis.  The  first  measured  on  the 
scale  which  I  employed  186'"  and  the  other  4,436'".  The  omnis  being  a  spiritual 
substance,  excessively  attenuated,  was  withdrawn  in  6h  40™.  The  other  being  mate- 
rial and  more  dense  required  I2h  and  14'".  I  believe  that  these  processes  will  check 
the  Cholera  in  those  regions  and  prevent  it  in  future. 

At  6J  P.  M.,  Aug.  3.  Commenced  processes  to  withdraw  the  infection  and  odical 
omnis  from  Great  Britain  Island  and  the  British  Isles  of  the  Russian  Plague.  The 
infection  withdrawn  at  2h  36'"  Aug.  4,  A.  M.,  or  in  8h  2im  ;  the  odical  omnis  at  8h  i6m 
Aug.  3,  or  in  2h  im.  It  appears  that  Aug.  2,  £5  p.  M.  there  was  no  omnis  of  the  dis- 
ease in  England,  but  that  at  that  time  on  the  3rd  it  existed  with  a  force  of  847'"  and 
that  there  had  been  344  cases.  Signed, 

Witnessed,        E.  D.  C.  and  C.  L.  C.  WILLIAM  SHELDON. 


300 

It  was  the  confident  belief  of  Mr.  Sheldon  that  by  these  mysterious  pro- 
cesses he  could  impregnate  one  substance  with  the  peculiar  quality  or  odic 
of  another,  so  that  cotton  goods,  e.  g.,  might  thus  be  endowed  with  all  the 
excellencies  of  silk  without  any  visible  change  in  either — also  that  growing 
plants  might  be  so  accelerated  and  influenced  as  to  cause  cotton  or  any 
other  tropical  plant  to  mature  in  our  New  England  climate— to  the  demon- 
stration of  which  fact  he  himself  experimented  most  perseveringly,  and  with 
much  fertility  of  plausible  explanation  to  account  for  his  invariable  failures. 
He  carried  on  an  extensive  correspondence  with  European  sovereigns  and 
savants,  Arago,  Carlisle,  etc. — if  that  may  be  called  a  correspondence 
which  was  nearly  all  upon  one  side — and  also  a  more  evenly-balanced  one 
with  not  a  few  American  celebrities,  whose  ingenuity  must  have  been  often 
severely  taxed  to  respond  to  his  high-bred  courtesy,  and  yet  evade  assent  to 
his  ideas.  The  following  autograph  letters  from  Mrs.  Sigourney,  and  from 
N.  P.  Willis,  are  introduced  as  instances  of  distinguished  success  in  this 

direction : 

HARTFORD,  CONN*,  March  7th,  1860. 
Mv  DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  was  duly  received  and  I  should  attempt  an  apology  for  the  long  delay 
in  acknowledging  it,  but  from  my  being  unfortunately  too  much  addicted  to  such  hab- 
its, and  in  a  measure  from  necessity,  my  exchange  of  epistles  yearly  surpassing  2,000 
and  the  time  at  my  command  scarcely  sufficing  even  for  my  unpunctual  responses. 

I  could  not  but  admire  the  symmetrical  chirography  of  your  letter,  though  its  sub- 
jects were  to  me  wrapped  in  mystery,  having  little  capacity  to  comprehend  the  com- 
mon forms  of  mechanical  science.  Of  course,  aught  so  occult  as  your  course  of 
experiments  is  entirely  beyond  my  depth 

Wishing  you  a  continuance  of  health  and  happiness,  I  remain  very  respectfully 
yours,  L.  H.  SIGOURNEY. 

IDLEWILD,  Dec.  i,  1856. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

You  very  much  over-rate  the  level  at  which  the  Home  Journal  is  obliged  to  grade 
its  reading  in  supposing  that  your  able  scientific  article  is  suited  to  our  columns.  I 
sigh  to  tell  you  that  our  subscription  depends  almost  wholly  on  those  to  whom  the 
originality  and  interest  of  your  views  would  be  a  dead  letter.  But  so  it  is.  I  re- 
enclose  your  manuscript  to  you  with  the  money  for  the  extra  copies  (which  would 
have  been  abundantly  at  your  service  without  it)  and  trust  you  will  forgive  my  thus 
having  an  eye  to  business  and  catering  for  the  many  rather  than  for  the  few. 

It  was  among  my  most  treasured  intentions  to  look  in  upon  your  seclusion  during 
the  last  summer ;  the  correspondence  with  which  you  so  kindly  indulged  me  having 
left  a  very  grateful  remembrance  in  my  heart.  With  my  present  renewed  health  I 
trust  it  is  a  pleasure  still  in  store  for  me,  and  meantime,  my  dear  sir,  pray  believe 
me  very  gratefully  and  sincerely  yours,  N.  P.  WILLIS. 

WM.  SHELDON,  Esq. 

Mr.  Sheldon  published  a  number  of  works  himself  upon  his  favorite  top- 
ics which  were  never  offered  in  market,  but  were  distributed  by  him  accord- 
ing to  his  fancy.  Besides  these  visionary  ideas,  Mr.  Sheldon  was  a  real 
inventor  of  much  ingenuity,  and  had  he  been  under  any  pecuniary  necessity 


30i 

for  thus  exerting  himself,  could  doubtless  have  realized  a  large  fortune  by 
some  of  his  mechanical  devices.  He  left  voluminous  manuscripts,  and  a 
faithful  record  of  the  various  eccentricities  of  his  character  would  prove 
more  surprising,  if  not  more  interesting,  than  most  romances. 

In  character,  Mr.  Sheldon  was  singularly  sincere,  simple  and  just, 
although  subject  to  strong  prejudices.  He  was  also  deeply  religious  by 
nature.  The  following  invocation,  taken  almost  at  random  from  among 
many  similar  ones  among  his  papers,  is  given  as  evidence,  not  only  of  his 
unbalanced  mind,  but  equally  of  the  depth  of  his  religious  convictions  and 
of  the  natural  kindliness  of  his  heart  : 

PETITION  SPECIFYING  THE  GIFT  (to  be  conferred  on  asking) — Lord  the  Father, 
graciously  be  pleased  to  look  down  upon  thy  poor  unworthy  servant  (if  thou  wilt 
permit  him  to  be  called  thy  servant)  in  mercy  and  forgiveness,  if  it  may  be. 

Lord,  thine  unworthy  servant  would  at  this  time  humbly  approach  the  Divine  maj- 
esty to  ask  of  thee  the  GIFT  which  thou  hast  peradventure  permitted  him  to  choose 
and  to  ask  at  thy  hands.  And  if  it  be  well  pleasing  in  thy  sight,  thy  servant  would 
humbly  ask  that  not  one  of  thy  servants — not  one  of  thy  creatiires — may  be  finally 
lost  by  reason  of  the  influence  of  thy  servant,  or  on  account  of  any  neglect  or  omis- 
sion of  duty  by  him.  But  graciously  be  pleased  to  grant  that  he  may  be  found 
faithful  by  help  obtained  of  thee,  and  that  so  far  as  he  may  exercise  any  influence 
upon  the  future  condition  of  any  one  it  may  be  for  good  ;  and  that  within  the  sphere 
of  this  influence  as  many  may  be  saved  as  may  be  possible. 

Lord,  thy  servant  would  in  an  especial  manner  ask  this  in  behalf  of  his  enemies, 
and  those  who  may  have  done  or  designed  him  evil,  if  such  there  be,  and  of  those 
who  may  become  such  hereafter.  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven Amen. 

Lord  graciously  be  pleased  to  forgive  the  sins  of  this  prayer,  and  to  grant  the  peti- 
tion of  thy  unworthy  servant,  if  it  may  be,  for  Christ's  sake.  Amen. 

March  22,  1837. 

Mr.  Sheldon  died  in  1872,  the  last  of  his  family  line,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  84. 


The  following  acrostic  upon  the  name  of  his  mother,  Eunice  Williams, 
the  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Williams,  and  a  woman  of  great  beauty  of  person 
and  of  character,  .is  a  favorable  specimen  of  the  poetry  of  those  early  days  : 

Acrostic. 

Ev'ry  charm,  &  every  grace  Wit  penetrating,  Mirth  refined, 

Unfolds  their  fplendor  in  thy  face  :     Illum'd  by  Judgment,  Reafon's  friend — 
Nature  and  Art,  if  they'd  unite  Learning's  thy  care,  Virtue's  thy  Guide, 

In  all  that's  innocently  bright,  Love's  thy  Soul,  Modefly's  thy  Pride. 

Can't  form  another,  if  they  would,      Innocence  !  Charmer  of  the  mind, 
E'en  half  fo  gay,  or  half  fo  good.       Allurement  of  the  tend'reft  kind 

Magnifies  thy  Heaven-born  Soul 
Aug.  3rd,  1783.  So  Sweetly,  it  does  all  controul. 


3O2 

It  may  not  be  generally  known,  outside  of  literary  circles,  that  for  several 
years  of  the  past  century  Longmeadow  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  possess- 
ing one  of  the  choicest  special  libraries  in  the  United  States.  This  was 
the  private  library  of  the  late  William  G.  Medlicott,  whose  residence  is 
shown  in  the  illustration  which  fronts  page  97  of  this  volume.  This  library, 
easily  surpassed  by  many  others  in  size, — about  20,000  volumes, — was  prob- 
ably richer  in  rare  books  pertaining  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  early  English 
periods  of  our  literature,  than  any  other  in  this  country.  Its  linguistic 
treasures  were  well  known  and  often  sought  by  the  professors  of  Harvard, 
Yale,  Cornell,  and  other  universities,  being  freely  loaned  by  Mr.  Medlicott 
in  the  interest  of  literary  research.  Its  sumptuous  catalogue,  printed  for 
the  use  of  buyers  when,  a  few  years  ago,  business  reverses  made  it  neces- 
sary to  dispose  of  a  part  of  it,  is  a  remarkable  literary  curiosity.  The 
opportunity  was  seized,  at  once,  by  intelligent  collectors  in  London,  Boston, 
New  York,  and  other  widely  scattered  places,  and  the  sale  of  many  of  its 
choicest  treasures,  at  advanced  prices,  demonstrated  that  even  judicious 
book  collecting  is  not  always  unprofitable.  Meanwhile  the  library  itself 
remains,  apparently  undiminished,  in  the  family  possession,  and  still  also  a 
mine  of  profitable  literary  research.  The  following  characterization  of  Mr. 
Medlicott  himself  is  condensed  from  the  Spring  field  Republican: 

"  Mr.  Medlicott  combined  with  his  large  business  capacity  a  remarkable 
literary  culture.  Far  from  being  a  bibliophilist  in  the  passion  for  costly  rar- 
ities for  a  market  value,  Mr.  Medlicott  loved  his  books  for  their  own  sake. 
He  counted  every  moment  he  could  snatch  from  business  cares  as  golden 
for  reading.  It  was  his  restful  pastime  and  domestic  recreation.  Without 
affectation  or  pedantry,  he  was  always  imparting  in  the  table-talk  and  the 
fireside  reading,  and  by  conversation,  from  the  unfailing  treasures  of  his 
favorite  books.  During  the  latter  days  of  his  long  and  gradually  wasting 
illness,  his  indomitable  will  and  cheerful  disposition  banished  every  gloomy 
association,  and  with  his  beloved  books,  old  and  new,  around  him,  he  would 
solace  his  mind  and  delight  his  friends  with  quotations  from  the  poets  he 
loved  the  best.  The  literary  department  of  his  mind  was  just  as  method- 
ically arranged  and  accurately  grasped  in  every  detail,  as  was  the  business 
department  which  controlled  and  systemized  a  large  and  intricate  manufac- 
ture. Equally  at  home  in  each,  neither  seemed  inconsistent  with  or  harm- 
ful to  the  other. 

"  He  was  exceedingly  fond  of  his  home  and  attached  himself  with  public- 
spirited  generosity  to  all  the  interests  of  the  village.  Although  by  his  early 
training  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  still  retaining  a  personal 
preference  for  the  Episcopal  communion,  his  religious  catholicity  made  him 
a  staunch  supporter  of  the  Congregational  Church  as  fairly  maintaining  its 
ancient  prestige,  and  the  only  one  needed  by  a  homogeneous  and  united 
people.  Indeed,  in  his  warm  attachment  to  the  village  of  his  adoption,  and 
his  generous  support  of  all  its  public  interests,  Mr.  Medlicott  was  emphati- 
cally a  model  citizen. 


303 

Among  the  eccentric  characters  of  Longmeadow,  some  now  living  remem- 
ber its  hermit,  Aaron  Burt.  He  dwelt  in  a  forest  clearing  in  East  Long- 
meadow,  romantic  in  its  solitude  and  surroundings  of  ancient  trees  and 
running  water.  His  own  vineyard  and  orchard  supplied  abundance  of  lus- 
cious fruits,  which  he  gave  to  his  curious  visitors  with  generous  hospitality. 
He  surrounded  his  hut  with  bees,  so  familiar  that  they  would  not  sting 
him,  and  which  gave  him  honey  of  the  richest  quality.  He  had  a  family  of 
domestic  animals  whom  he  petted,  and  bathed,  and  talked  to  as  if  they  were 
human  friends.  He  had  trained  them  to  follow  him,  and  when  he  went  to 
Springfield,  or  visited  the  village  street,  they,— the  bullock,  the  heifer,  the 
sheep,  the  calf,  and  the  pig, — fantastically  adorned  with  ribbons,  fell  into  line, 
while  he,  clad  in  sheepskins,  like  some  prophet  of  old,  strode  in  front  with 
serious  dignity  and  a  presence  indicating  much  natural  refinement  and  a 
large  intelligence  that  had  somehow  got  awry — disappointed  in  love,  the 
story  ran— looking  like  some  old  prophet.  He  attended  public  worship, 
usually  with  decorum,  but  sometimes,  by  his  odd  behavior,  would  provoke 
the  tithing-men  to  put  him  out.  Suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  the  service,  he 
might  rise  up  in  the  gallery  and  break  out  in  the  solemn  strains  of  "The 
Indian  Philosopher,"  or  some  other  uncouth  song.  Feeling  that  he  was 
called  to  preach,  he  would  make  stentorian  harangues,  denouncing  the  sins 
of  the  times,  and  sometimes  with  considerable  pertinency.  Captain  Calvin 
Burt  once  interrupted  one  of  his  sermons,  in  process  of  delivery  opposite 
his  house,  by  rushing  out  with  a  horsewhip  and  chasing  the  noisy  prophet 
into  a  hatter's  shop  that  then  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  green,  where  he 
administered  a  sound  thrashing.  When  Pastor  Dickinson,  in  gentler  method 
on  another  occasion,  attempted  to  dissuade  him  from  his  preaching,  the 
reply  was,  "  You  and  I,  Mr.  Dickinson,  are  engaged  in  the  same  business. 
We  both  preach  the  same  gospel ;  only  I  go  ahead  with  the  breaking-up 
drag,  and  you  follow  with  a  fine-tooth  harrow  to  cover  the  seed." 

The  military  trainings,  so  long  as  they  lasted,  were  conducted  on  the 
village  green  with  the  most  exemplary  precision,  dignity,  and  decorum.  The 
last  captain,  chosen  May  5,  1835,  was  Aaron  C.  Stebbins  ;  the  last  lieuten- 
ant, Samuel  C.  Booth  ;  the  last  sergeant,  Geo.  H.  White ;  and  the  last  cor- 
poral, Isaac  Calkins. 

On  that  eventful  Sabbath  after  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon,  and  the  first 
Massachusetts  troops  had  met  their  rebuff  at  Baltimore,  and  the  swift  trains 
were  whistling  through  the  long  meadow  loaded  from  the  arsenal,  there 
appeared  in  his  full  uniform,  marching  up  and  down  the  street,  quivering 
with  martial  ire,  and  every  inch  a  soldier,  Captain  Aaron  Stebbins,  present- 
ing himself  in  all  the  solemnity  of  his  kindling  patriotism  as  an  object  les- 
son and  prophetic  sign  of  what  the  times  demanded. 

On  one  of  the  Sabbath  days  during  the  Revolutionary  period,  while  the 
service  was  in  progress,  a  man  entered  and  whispered  to  some  of  the  lead- 
ing people,  whereupon  the  congregation  repaired  at  once  to  the  work  of  run- 
ning bullets,  which  continued  all  night,  while  the  women  mended  the 
clothes  of  the  minute  men  who  were  to  start  at  early  dawn. 
40 


304 

'Squire  Ely  had  a  dry,  sarcastic  wit,  conveyed  in  deliberate  tones  and 
punctuated  by  a  peculiar  sniff  which  turned  his  Roman  nose  not  up,  but 
downward  and  aside.  Meeting  his  brother-in-law,  Elihu  Colton,  one  of  the 
unprofessional  village  lawyers,  who  spent  his  time  in  little  else  than  sitting 
at  the  tavern  fire,  or  walking  about  at  his  leisure,  he  said,  "  Brother  Elihu, 
hadn't  you  better — sometimes — take  a  basket — on  your  arm  ?  People 
might  think  you  was  going  after  something."  At  another  time,  meeting  his 
deputy  miller,  S H ,  who  was  fond  of  going  a-fishing,  "  Good  morn- 
ing, Mr.  H .  What's  the  news — from  the  mill  ? — or — haven't  you  been 

there — lately?"  "Father,"  said  his  son  Jonathan,  who  had  returned  from 
some  cattle-show,  "don't  you  think  we  had  better  have  some  of  this  nice 
graded  stock  ?  "  "  Well,"  replied  the  'Squire,  "may  be  we  had : — but — Jona- 
than— after  we've  had  'em  awhile,  you'll  find  they  will  be  Ely  cattle."  Adol- 
phus  Kent,  an  impecunious  hired  man,  who  was  noted  for  his  sharp  sayings, 
having  driven  the  'Squire's  heifers  from  their  winter  quarters  to  the  pasture, 
described  them  as  so  light  that  when  they  kicked  up  there  wasn't  "  heft  " 
enough  to  bring  their  heels  down  till  he  got  out  as  far  as  "  Grassy  Gutter." 
"  Did  you  ever  know — -your  cattle — to  act  in  that  way,  Mr.  Kent  ?  " 

A  member  of  the  church  who  was  disciplined  for  stealing,  and  had 
acknowledged  his  guilt,  asked  permission  to  read  the  confession  demanded 
before  the  congregation  himself.  He  got  it  drawn  up  by  a  lawyer,  and 
when  the  time  came  for  the  confession,  stood  up  and  humbly  made  his 
acknowledgments,  asking  forgiveness  ; — "but  most  of  all  I  ask  the  forgive- 
ness— more  especially — and  above  all — of  God — and  my  brethren — for — 
blacking  my  face — and  going  in  the  night  time — with  most  other  members 
of  the  church— and  robbing  the  house  of  Samuel  Colton."  (See  Colton 
documents,  p.  213.) 

Rev.  Dr.  Wolcott  kindly  contributes  the  following  reminiscence  of  his 
former  Longmeadow  pastorate : 

"  A  day  or  two  before  the  destruction  of  his  house  by  fire,  Col.  Williams 
had  granted  me  free  access  to  his  attic,  and  I  was  introduced  to  the  manu- 
script treasures  with  which  it  abounded.  I  made  a  preliminary  exploration, 
preparatory  to  a  systematic  examination  of  the  papers.  Among  the  docu- 
ments which  attracted  my  attention,  was  a  legal  paper  signed  by  the  surviv- 
ing children  of  the  Rev.  John  Williams  of  Deerfield,  including  the  daughter 
who  had  been  taken  captive  by  the  Indians  and  had  adopted  the  Indian  life, 
then  on  a  visit  to  the  homestead.  The  Indian  name  was  given  in  full  and 
appended  to  it  was — '  her  /  mark.'  I  looked  upon  that  '  mark ' — the  only 
trace  which  this  Christian-born  daughter  of  the  forest  had  left  upon  the 
records  of  civilization,  and  it  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  most  pathetic  inci- 
dents with  which  I  had  ever  met.  I  noted  that  document  as  one  which  I 
should  eventually  solicit  from  the  proprietor.  But  before  I  could  repeat  the 
visit,  those  papers  were  all  consumed  in  the  flames." 


305 


V.— FAMILY  MEMORANDA. 

The  following  items  of  family  history,  supplied  mainly  by  members 
of  the  respective  families,  may  perhaps  usefully  supplement  the  statis- 
tics of  the  Genealogical  Record,  the  publication  of  which  has  super- 
seded a  wider  range  of  similar  research : 

THE  BURT  FAMILY. 

The  Burts,  from  the  outset  prominent  and  influential  in  Longmeadow 
affairs,  descended  from  Henry  and  Ulalia  Burt.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
Ulalia  was  laid  out  for  dead  in  England,  and  put  into  her  coffin,  but  signs,  of 
life  appearing,  she  recovered  and  became  the  mother  of  nineteen  children, 
only  twelve  of  whom,  however,  are  traced  as  coming  to  this  country  or  as 
having  been  born  here. 

Henry  settled  first  in  Roxbury,  where  in  1639  his  house  was  burned,  and 
a  grant  of  ^8  made  to  him  by  the  Provincial  Court  in  consideration  of  the 
misfortune.  About  that  time  he  removed  to  Springfield,  and  was  then  ap- 
pointed "  Clerk  of  ye  band  and  clerk  of  ye  writs  ;  "  evidently  a  man  of  affairs 
and  well  educated,  being  the  lay  exhorter  on  the  Sabbath  when  there  was 
no  minister,  chosen  in  successive  years  one  of  the  five  "select  men  byye 
general  vote  and  consent  of  ye  Plantation  for  ye  ordering  yc  prudential 
affairs,"  and  one  of  six  with  "  full  power  to  lay  out  ye  lands  both  of  upland 
and  meddowe." 

His  eldest  son,  Dea.  Jonathan  Burt,  was  also  born  in  England,  married 
Elizabeth  Lobdel  at  Boston,  and  like  his  father  continually  appears  in  posi- 
tions of  trust;  "a  man  of  note  and  deacon,"  writes  Savage,  also  town  clerk 
of  Springfield,  making  the  only  public  record  of  the  destruction  of  the  town 
by  the  Indians  in  1675.  In  1662  he  was  "  allowed  to  be  attorney  of  this 
county's  court."  Dea.  Jonathan  lived  in  the  house  formerly  owned  by  Hugh 
Parsons  of  witchcraft  notoriety.  In  1694  Col.  John  Pynchon,  Esq.,  and 
Dea.  Jonathan  Burt  were  appointed  to  declare  to  Mr.  Samuel  Brewer,  can- 
didate for  the  Springfield  pastorate,  "  The  towne's  good  resentment  of  Mr 
Daniel  Brewer  his  answer  to  the  towne  invitation,  and  to  give  him  thanks 
for  ye  same." 

His  third  son,  Nathaniel,  settled  in  Longmeadow,  "  a  respected  and  wor- 
thy Father  of  the  Town  of  Longmeadow,"  as  testifies  the  inscription  on  his 
monumental  tablet,  gratefully  erected  hy  the  inhabitants  in  remembrance  of 
his  benefactions  "for  the  support  of  the  gospel  and  public  schools."  (See 
epitaphs,  p.  204.)  He  may  well  be  styled  "  Nathaniel  the  liberal,"  according 
to  the  Scripture  graved  upon  his  tombstone.  Josiah  xxxii,  8 — "  The  liberal 
deviseth  liberal  things,  and  by  liberal  things  shall  he  stand." 

The  next  Longmeadow  Burt  was  Jonathan,  son  of  Dea.  Jonathan  and 
grandson  of  Henry,  who  married  Lydia  Dumbleton,  and  whose  daughter 
Lydia  married  Dea.  Jonathan  Ely.  Cotemporary  with  him  in  the  third  gen- 
eration was  Dea.  Nathaniel  Burt,  son  of  Nathaniel  of  Springfield  and  grand- 
son of  Henry. 


306 

In  the  fourth  generation  was  Lieut.  Nathaniel  of  the  Third  Massachusetts 
regiment,  and  also  deacon,  son  of  Deacon  Nathaniel  and  great-grandson  of 
Henry,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  September  8,  1755. 
(See  epitaphs,  p.  204.)  He  was  the  father  of  Col.  Gideon  Burt,who  commanded 
the  government  troops  in  Shay's  rebellion,  September  26,  1782,  during  the 
temporary  absence  of  Gen.  Shephard,  and  was  grandfather  of  the  late  Maj. 
William  Bifrt. 

The  Burts  are  all  along  conspicuous  for  military  titles  and  honorable  ser- 
vice in  the  successive  wars. 

David,  great-grandson  of  Henry  the  emigrant,  served  against  the  French 
and  Indians,  and  was  mustered  in  at  Northfield  in  1722.  His  son,  Capt. 
David  Burt,  led  the  Longmeadow  minute  men,  who  marched  April  21,  1775, 
at  Lexington  alarm.  He  was  an  extensive  manufacturer  of  powder,  fur- 
nishing supplies  for  the  Revolutionary  army.  His  oldest  son  Solomon  was 
killed  by  the  explosion  of  his  powder-mill,  supposed  to  have  been  caused 
by  an  emissary  of  the  enemy.  It  is  recorded  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time 
of  an  old  horse  owned  by  Capt.  David,  that  one  Sunday,  when  his  master 
was  seriously  ill  and  the  attention  of  the  family  engaged  in  attendance  on 
him,  the  horse,  through  force  of  habit,  at  the  ringing  of  the  second  bell, 
took  his  place  at  the  house-porch  without  chaise  or  harness  ;  after  waiting 
the  usual  time,  trotted  off  to  the  meeting-house,  paused  at  the  door  ;  then 
took  his  accustomed  place  under  the  shed ;  after  service  drew  up  again  at 
the  meeting-house  door,  and  then  trotted  soberly  home. 

Capt.  David's  son,  Capt.  Calvin  Burt,  well  remembered  in  Longmeadow 
as  a  stalwart,  upright,  ardent,  and  outspoken  man,  fond  of  leadership  and 
intense  in  his  likes  and  dislikes,  entered  the  Revolutionary  army  at  the  age 
of  14,  was  an  officer  under  Gen.  Shephard  in  suppressing  Shay's  rebellion, 
and  the  great-grandfather  of  Lieut.  Howard  Burnham,  slain  at  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  in  the  recent  civil  war.  (See  Military  Record,  p.  284.) 

Edward  Burt,  son  of  Hezekiah  of  East  Longmeadow,  another  brave  sol- 
dier and  promising  youth  in  the  eighth  generation  from  Henry  the  emigrant, 
died  of  a  wound  received  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness.  Of  the  same 
lineage  were  those  gallant  officers,  Gen.  William  Burt,  ex-Postmaster  of 
Boston,  and  Major  Edmund  Charles  Burt,  of  the  Third  Rhode  Island 
Cavalry. 

The  Burts  have  also  given  to  the  church  militant  a  goodly  number  of 
ministers.  Those  connected  with  the  Longmeadow  line  belong  to  the  East 
Longmeadow  family  of  the  Davids  and  Elijah.  Rev.  Enoch  Burt  of  Lam- 
ington,  N.  J.,  son  of  Elijah,  born  in  South  Wilbraham,  graduated  at  Prince- 
ton, N.  J.,  in  1805.  Rev.  Moses  Burt  of  Clavarack,  N.  Y.,  and  the  son  of 
Elijah,  admitted  to  priesthood  of  the  Episcopal  church  by  the  Bishop  of 
New  Jersey,  ^October  24,  1823.  Rev.  Seth  Burt  of  Norway,  N.  Y..  another 
son  of  Elijah,  born  in  East  Longmeadow,  graduated  at  Union  College, 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  July,  1810.  Rev.  Edmund  Burt,  son  of  Horace,  grand- 
son of  Elijah  of  East  Longmeadow,  settled  at  Chittonongo,  N.  Y. 


307 

The  East  Longmeadow  Burts  come  in  the  line  of  Henry  in  the  first  gen- 
eration, Nathaniel  in  the  second,  David  in  the  third,  who  first  settled  in  the 
"  Inward  Commons,"  since  called  East  Longmeadow,  David  in  the  fourth, 
and  Elijah  in  the  fifth,  through  whose  prolific  family  of  fourteen  they  get  an 
accelerated  movement.  Of  these,  Luther  Burt  married  Mary  White,  and 
their  children  were  Mary,  Anne,  Rhoda,  Hezekiah,  Lucius,  Augustine, 
Luther  White,  John,  Richard  Storrs,  and  Delia  Bliss.  Another  son  of 
Elijah,  Dea.  Ebenezer  Burt,  married  Amanda  Colton,  and  their  children 
were  Amanda,  Lucretia,  and  Ebenezer.  Another  son  of  Elijah,  bearing  his 
father's  name,  married  for  his  first  wife  Nancy  Abby,  and  their  only  child 
was  Loring  Burt.  Marrying  for  his  second  wife  Polly  McKinney,  their 
children  were  William,  Anson,  and  Nancy  Abby.  Another  son  of  Elijah, 
Horace  Burt,  married  Patty  Bliss,  and  their  children  were  Edmund,  Jona- 
than, and  Horace. 

THE  COOLEY  FAMILY. 

Benjamin,  or  "  Ensign  Cooley,"  the  head  of  the  Longmeadow  family, 
received  his  first  allotment  of  land  in  1642.  A  portion  of  this  land  upon 
which  he  first  settled,  and  which  he  gave  to  his  eldest  son  Obadiah,  remains 
in  possession  of  his  descendants  at  the  present  time.  In  a  further  adjust- 
ment of  the  meadow  grants,  January  1651,  "and  how  they  are  to  lye — by  lot 
— on  Pecowsick  beginning  at  ye  lower  end,"  Benjamin  Cooley  stands  as  the 
first  proprietor.  At  a  town  meeting  January  7, 1655,  it  was  agreed  and  con- 
cluded yl  ye  land  at  Woronoco  (being  laid  to  this  Town  by  y'  Court)  should 
be  disposed  of,  to  which  end  John  Pynchon,  Benj"  Cooley,  etc.,  were 
appointed  and  designed  by  ye  Town  to  ye  work."  Ensign  Benjamin  Cooley 
stands  all  along  in  the  early  history  of  Springfield  associated  with  Ensign 
Cooper,  Capt.  Pynchon,  Miles  Morgan,  Rowland  Thomas,  Quartermaster 
Colton,  and  Eleazer  Holyoke  on  real  estate  committees  to  dispose  of  "  y' 
Lands  of  the  Plantation."  In  1670  the  General  Court  appointed  him  with 
John  Pynchon  and  four  others  to  lay  out  a  new  township  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Connecticut  river  "  towards  Windsor."  Benjamin  Cooley  had  eight 
children.  His  two  sons,  Obadiah  and  Eliakim,  settled  in  Longmeadow.  In 
1665  grants  of  land  were  made  to  Obadiah  Cooley,  eldest  son  of  Benjamin 
Cooley,  of  thirty-five  acres,  his  father  "  agreeing  to  satisfy  charges  that  shall 
come  upon  the  Land  before  it  is  Improved,"  Obadiah  Cooley  being  at  this 
time  but  19  years  of  age.  From  this  time  on  for  several  years  records 
appear  of  deeds  of  land  from  Benjamin  Cooley  to  his  five  sons. 

A  deed  dated  January  21,  1673,  conveys  "  two  parcells  of  land  in  y*  Long 
meaddow  "  from  Thomas  Stebbins  to  Ensign  Cooley.  Another  deed  con- 
veys to  him  from  Samuel  Marshfield 

"  Certayne  Parcells  of  land,  viz.  f  oure  Parcells  of  Land  lying  and  being  in  Spring- 
field aforefaid— that  is  to  fay,  Imprimis,  a  Parcell  of  Land  conteyning  foureteene 
acres  more  or  lefs  lying  in  the  Long  meaddow  a  little  below  the  gate  wch  Openeth 
into  the  field  a  little  below  his  the  faid  Enfign  Cooley's  houfe."  "  The  fourth  Par- 


308 

cell  of  Land  hereby  fold  is  twelve  acres  more  or  lefs  lying  on  the  North  Side  of  that 
Land  of  Enfign  Cooleys  wch  lyes  between  the  two  dingles  wch  are  on  ye  back  Side 
of  the  Swampe  wch  is  Eaft  from  his  houfe  at  Long  meaddow.  This  twelve  acres 
extends  to  another  dingle  northward  from  the  Said  Enfign  Cooleys  own  land  above 
mentioned,  and  is  in  breadth  thirty  rods  and  in  length  Sixty  foure  rods." 

Obadiah  Cooley  had  two  sons,  who  remained  in  Longmeadow,  Joseph  and 
Jonathan.  Joseph  had  a  son,  Caleb,  and  his  grandson  was  Seth,  who  was 
the  father  of  Mrs.  Ethan  Ely.  Jonathan's  descendants  are  his  son  Stephen, 
grandson  Calvin,  and  great-grandson,  Alford. 

James  Cooley,  eldest  son  of  Calvin  Cooley,  after  graduating  at  Yale  Col- 
lege and  studying  law,  went  to  Ohio  to  practice  law  in  1815.  Irt  1826  he 
was  sent  under  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams  as  charge 
d'affaires  to  Lima.  Peru,  and  died  within  a  year  after  reaching  there. 

THE  ELY  FAMILY. 

The  following  more  extended  account  of  the  Ely  family  of  Long- 
meadow  has  been  prepared  by  Mr.  Ethan  C.  Ely,  and  is  inserted  by 
him  with  its  accompanying  illustrations  : 

THE  ELY  FAMILY  IN  LONGMEADOW,  though  not  as  large  as  some  of  the 
others,  seems  to  have  been  of  good  worthy  stock,  beginning  with  Dea. 
Jonathan,  son  of  Samuel  of  Springfield,  who  was  the  son  of  Nathaniel,  also 
of  Springfield,  and  one  of  its  early  settlers,  coming  there  about  the  year 
1660,  and  with  his  son  Samuel  keeping  a  tavern  or  public  house  in  what  is 
now  the  old  Laundry  at  the  corner  of  Dwight  and  Sanford  streets,  when  it 
stood  at  or  near  the  corner  of  Main  and  Bliss  streets,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  "  Belmont  House."  It  appears  that  Nathaniel  took  the  freeman's 
oath  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  May  6,  1635,  at  which  time  he  was  a  land-holder 
there,  and  was  probably  of  Puritan  origin,  having  come  to  this  country  from 
England  prior  to  the  above  date.  There  is  some  evidence  that  he  may  have 
been  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker's  party  to  Connecticut  in  1636,  whence  he 
removed  to  Springfield,  where  he  died  Dec.  25,  1675,  leaving,  it  appears, 
two  children,  Samuel  and  Ruth.  His  supposed  widow,  Martha  Ely,  died 
Oct.  23,  1683. 

The  record  shows  that  Samuel  married  Mary  Day  the  28th  of  the  8th 
month,  1659,  and  that  they  had  fifteen  children,  more  than  half  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  or  when  quite  young.  Samuel,  the  father,  died  March  17, 
1692,  after  which  his  widow  was  twice  married  ;  first  April  12,  1694,  to 
Thomas  Stebbins  ;  he  dying  Dec.  7,  1695,  she  next  married  John  Coleman 
Dec-  16,  1696. 

Joseph,  Samuel,  and  John,  three  of  the  sons  of  Samuel,  had  families  and 
settled  in  West  Springfield,  and  Jonathan  settled  in  Longmeadow  in  1694. 
Dea.  Jonathan  seems  to  have  been  a  plain  God-fearing  man,  respected  and 
trusted  by  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  and  when  he  died,  in  1753,  in 
his  7 ist  year,  an  elegy  was  printed,  a  fac  simile  of  which  is  given  herewith  : 


An    ELEGY    on    the    gratfe    of 

Mr-  Iomitl)an  <£lij, 

Deacon  of  the  Church  of  CHRIST  in  Springfield,  at  Long-Meadow,  who 
Departed  this  Life,  July  27.  Annoque  Domini,  1753.  In  the  71"- 
Year  of  his  Age. 

Prov.  x.  7.    The  Mimtrj,  of  the  Just  h  hli/ed.     Rev.  xiv.  13.     Sle/,d  art  the  Dead  which  die  in  th.  Lord: 


"IT  THAT  Cloud  is  this  o'erfpreads  the  Sk 

*•       Or  gloomy  Exhalations  rife,  J 
In  Sable  Curtains  hide  the  Sun, 
JufT.  as  he  had  his  Race  begun. 
The  Morn  was  bright,  ferene,  and  clear, 
No  Storm,  nor  Tempeft,  did  appear 
Then  fuddenly,  the  Newt  was  fpread, 
The  mournful  News !    ELY  is  |ptab. 
Well  might  the  Sun  be  hid  a  While, 
Under  a  dark  and  difmal  Vail ; 
Well  might  the  Heav'ns,  be  overfpreaJ, 
To  mourn  this  precious  Saint  of  GOD. 
And  ye  furviving  Mortals  too, 
Which  did  his  Grace  and  Vertue  know, 
Come  drop  a  Fun'ral  Tear  and  Sigh, 
Perpetuate  his  Memory. 
Speak  Mufi  unerring,  you  have  known, 
How  in  the  Church's  Orb  he  (hone: 
And  well  adorn'd  his  Office  State, 
Have  feen  his  Tears  when  he  did  wait, 
Upon  the  Table  of  the  Lord, 
A  humble  Saint  around  his  Board. 
Difperfing  Wifdom's  rich  Provision, 
The  Bread  and  Wine,  the  Lord  has  given 
Thofe  dear  Memorials  of  his  |Bfat^, 
To  purchafe  Life,  and  free  from  W  rath, 
Let  Age  declare  how  from  his  Youth, 
He  walked  in  the  Ways  of  Truth  ; 
And  by  his  bright  Example  fet, 
A  ftiining  Pattern  for  their  Feet. 
Early  he  turn'd  to  Wifdom's  Ways, 
And  ne'er  forlbok  them  all  his  Days  ; 
A  blamelefs  Walk  and  Converfation, 
Adorn'd  his  Life  in  ev'ry  Station. 
How  Holy,  Juft,  and  Temp'rate  too, 
How  free  from  Vanity  and  Shew ; 
Yet  condefending,  cheerful,  free, 
Unftain'd,  without  Hypocrify. 
A  tender  Father,  Huiband  kind, 
A  courteous  Neighbour,  loving  Friend  ; 
Made  up  of  Peace  and  Charity, 
Unaflc'd  forgave  an  Injury. 
When  juft  Occasion  did  prefent, 
Tender  of  the  true  Penitent; 
His  holy  Soul  would  melt  and  flow, 
In  Tears  of  Love  and  facred  Joy. 

His  Principles  were  found  and  good, 
He  fought  Salvation  thro'  Chrift's  Blood. 


J'Tis  remarkable,  the  Morning  he  Died,  the 
Heavens  were  fuddenly  overfpread  with  Smoak, 
which  continued  feveral  days. 


The  Doctrine  of  GOD's  Sovereignty, 
And  abfolute  Supremacy; 
The  wretched  State  of  fall'n  Man, 
His  Need  to  be  renew'd  again  ; 
Throughout  the  Soul,  in  ev'ry  Part, 
Were  Doctrines  much  upon  his  Heart. 
For  he  no  Doubt  had  felt  their  Pow'r, 
In  feme  divine  refreshing  Hour; 
And  perfeveringly  he  grew, 
In  Vertue,  Grace,  and  Knowledge  too; 
While  viewing  here  from  Pifgah's  Top,   \ 
The  Lord  at  laft  has  call'd  him  up, 
To  take  Poffeflion  of  his  Hope. 

Mourn  and  lament  this  Church  of  GOD, 
A  Father  taken  from  your  Head  ; 
His  Services  with  Thanks  record, 
Unto  our  great  and  gracious  Lord  : 
Who  crown'd  his  Servant  with  fuch  Grace, 
So  long  preferv'd  him  in  the  Place; 
A  Blefling  to  the  Church  of  GOD, 
Where  to  his  dying  Day  he  ftood  : 
A  Mirror  bright  before  our  Eyes ; 
Now  reigns  and  (bines  above  the  Skies. 
Nor  was  his  Service  here  confin'd  ; 
The  publick  Truft  he  long  fuftain'd ; 
Difcharg'd  with  great  Fidelity, 
Your  Records  kept  moft  faithfully,  j- 

Mufe,  fpeak  a  Word  of  Sympathy, 
Unto  the  mournfuj  Family  : 
Your  Lofs,  tho'  Great,  to  him  is  Gain, 
Which  may  AlTwage  your  Grief  and  Pain. 
Ceafe  then  your  Tears,  dry  up  your  Eyes, 
Let  no  tumultuous  Paffion  rife  ; 
Mourn  for  your  Friend,  you  may,  'tis  juit, 
But  moderate  your  Grief  you  mult. 
Reftrain  Excefs,  bound  Sorrow  up  ; 
For  you  don't  mourn  without  a  Hope. 
Now  Huftiand,  Father,  Friend,  is  gone, 
Let  GOD  be  all  to  you  in  one. 
Well  may  you  all  rejoice  in  this, 
Your  Friend  is  gone  to  endlefs  Blifs : 
Has  chang'd  a  mortal  State  below, 
A  State  of  Sorrow,  Sin  and  Woe, 
For  Realms  of  Joy,  Delight  and  Love, 
In  the  clear  View  of  GOD  above  ; 
To  fpend  a  long  Eternity,  J 

In  Saints,  and  Angels,  Company  ;  > 
In  praifing  GOD,  unitedly. 


•(•He  ferved  in  the  Office  of  Precincit  Clerk, 
more  than  Thirty  Years.  And  many  Years  Treas- 
urer. 


3io 

and  also  the  inscription  taken  from  his  monument  in  the  cemetery,  which 
reads  thus : 

"  He  was  one  that  feared  God  above  many,  of  great  ufefulnefs  in  this  place,  a 
plain  and  upright  man. 

Jonathan,  the  gift  of  God,  pleafant  in  life,  lamented  over  at  death  by  diilreffed  and 
bereaved  friends." 

Dea.  Jonathan  Ely  had  two  sons,  Jonathan  and  Nathaniel;  the  latter 
remaining  on  his  father's  homestead,  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  street 
next  north  of  the  "Ministry  land,"  so-called,  until  the  year  1758,  when  he 
purchased  of  Henry  Bliss  the  property  on  the  west  side,  which  has 
remained  in  the  family  ever  since,  having  descended  from  one  generation  to 
another  until  the  present,  while  his  brother  Jonathan  located  on  the  moun- 
tain in  Wilbraham,  on  land  known  then  as  the  "  outward  Commons "  of 
Springfield,  and  lived  to  see  succeeding  Jonathans  to  the  third  or  fourth 
generation  growing  up  around  him,  dying  Dec.  29,  1812,  at  the  great  age  of 
98  years  and  5  months. 

Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  son  of  Jonathan,  may  have  inherited,  to  some  extent, 
a  taste  for  inn-keeping  from  his  grandsires  of  Springfield,  for  he  is  said  to 
have  kept  tavern  for  a  time  in  the  house  now  owned  by  Dr.  Lester  Noble, 
which  stood  then  where  the  residence  of  Ethan  C.  Ely  now  stands.  Some 
years  later,  in  connection  with  his  son,  Dea.  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  he  built  the 
brick  structure  standing  next  south,  which  was  considered  in  those  days  the 
most  pretentious  dwelling  between  Springfield  and  Hartford,  and  has  been 
a  notable  landmark  for  more  than  a  century.  He  was  four  times  married, 
his  first  wife  being  Mary  Estabrook,  daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  Estabrook 
'of  Canterbury,  Conn.,  who  died  Jan.  13,  1759,  aged  41.  His  second  wife 
was  Abigail  Colton,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Colton,  who  died  Dec. 
2(2,  1770,  in  her  46th  year.  His  third  wife  was  Beulah,  daughter  of  Capt. 
Isaac  Colton,  who  died  April  24,  1786.  His  fourth  and  last,  who  survived 
him,  was  Mrs.  Martha  Williams  Reynolds,  widow  of  Dr.  Samuel  Reynolds 
of  Somers,  Conn.,  and  daughter  of  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  and  grand- 
mother of  Mrs.  Mary  Reynolds  Schauffler,  the  long-time  missionary  to 
Turkey.  She  died  Feb.  18,  1825,  aged  92. 

Only  two  of  these  wives  had  children,  Nathaniel  and  Samuel  being  of  the 
first,  Ethan  and  William  of  the  second,  most  of  the  others  dying  in  infancy 
or  early  life.  He  was  a  man  of  firm  purpose  and  sterling  integrity,  lived  84 
years,  and  died  just  at  the  close  of  the  century.  From  his  tablet  in  the  cem- 
etery we  take  the  following  inscription  : 

Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  Ion  of  Jonathan. 

Died  December  26,  1799. 

"  He  was  a  mining  example  of  the  focial  and  Chriftian  virtues,  eminently  ulefuj 
both  in  civil  and  religious  fociety,  and  closed  life  in  joyful  hope  of  a  glorious 
immortality.  His  great-grandfather  was  Nath1  Ely  from  England,  one  of  the  firft 
fettlers  of  Connecticut,  and  removed  to  Springfield,  Mafs.,  where  he  died."  "  The 
righteous  fhall  be  had  in  everlafting  remembrance." 


Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr.,  Samuel,  Ethan,  and  William,  were  worthy  sons 
of  a  worthy  sire.  The  former  married  Elizabeth  Reynolds,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Reynolds  of  Somers,  Conn.,  and  granddaughter  of  Rev.  Stephen 
Williams,  and  had  several  children,  among  whom  was  Martha,  who  married 
Rev.  Daniel  Temple,  one  of  the  first  missionaries  to  Turkey,  an  only  son, 
Samuel,  dying  at  the  age  of  8  years  with  symptoms  of  hydrophobia.  The 
father,  although  a  large,  robust  man,  suffered  from  pulmonary  troubles,  and 
at  one  time  visited  the  West  Indies  for  his  health,  and  on  his  return  brought 
back,  among  other  things,  the  first  umbrella  known  in  Longmeadow. 
Through  his  connection  by  marriage  with  the  Williams  family  he  seems  to 
have  taken  a  special  interest  in  the  education  of  the  Indian  boy  "  Lazau," 
who  afterwards  became  the  Rev.  Eleazer  Williams,  and  the  supposed  Dau- 
phin, or  Louis  XVII  of  France  (see  p.  230). 

Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  Jr.,  died  June  18,  1808,  aged  57  years.  Rev.  Mr. 
Storrs,  in  his  funeral  sermon,  said  of  him  that  his  ancestors  were  distin- 
guished for  piety  and  good  sense,  for  usefulness  and  respectability,  and  that 
for  more  than  twenty  years  he  had  sustained  the  office  of  deacon  in  the 
church,  and  so  discharged  its  appropriate  functions  as  to  purchase  to  him- 
self a  good  report  and  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  Christian  brethren. 
On  his  monument  we  find  this  tribute  to  his  memory  : 

"  Poffeffed  of  a  liberal,  patriotic  mind,  and  hopefully  fanctified  by  the  fpirit  of 
God,  he  became  eminently  ufeful  both  in  church  and  fociety.  He  was  a  tender  huf- 
band,  an  affectionate  father,  a  generous  friend." 

Samuel  Ely,  A.B.,  second  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  and  Mary  Ely,  graduated 
at  Yale  College  in  1772,  and  died  in  Nov.,  1774,  at  the  age  of  21.  William, 
second  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  and  Abigail  Ely,  graduated  at  Yale  and 
practiced  law  in  Springfield,  where  he  resided  in  the  old  Ely  house  on  the 
site  of  the  present  "  Belmont,"  having  married  Abigail  Bliss,  daughter  of 
Moses  Bliss  of  that  town.  He  represented  his  district  several  years  in 
Congress,  and  died  Oct.  9,  1817,  at  the  age  of  52,  leaving  no  children,  and 
was  buried  in  Springfield.  The  writer  has  been  informed  that  he  was  a 
man  of  noble  physique,  being  powerfully  built,  and  weighing  nearly  or  quite 
300  Ibs. 

Capt.  Ethan  Ely,  eldest  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  and  Abigail,  his  second 
wife,  was  born  Feb.  13,  1764,  married  Hannah,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Burt, 
Jan.  6,  1791,  and  lived  on  the  old  homestead,  where  his  father,  Dea.  Nath- 
aniel, resided  before  going  into  the  brick  house  next  south.  Here  he 
remained  until  about  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  or  some  time  after  the 
death  of  his  brother,  Dea.  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  when,  with  his  family  of  five  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  three  daughters,  he  moved  into  the  brick  house  where  he 
remained  until  the  time  of  his  death,  May  13,  1848,  at  the  age  of  84.  He  was  an 
industrious,  thrifty  farmer  and  land-holder,  familiarly  known  in  affairs  as 
"  Squire  "  Ely,  and  in  the  church  as  "  Deacon  "  Ely,  and  was  for  many  .years 
one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  community,  though  modest  and  unobtrusive 
in  his  intercourse  with  men,  having  a  gentle,  sensitive  nature,  combined  with 


312 

firmness  and  courage.  He  was  fond  of  music,  as  were  all  his  family,  and 
somewhat  noted  in  his  day  as  a  singer  and  teacher  of  singing,  and  the  writer 
has  several  times  met  people  years  ago  in  the  neighboring  towns,  who 
would  say,  on  finding  him  out,  "  Your  grandfather  taught  me  to  sing."  His 
sons  were  Ethan  and  Jonathan  ;  the  latter  graduated  at  Union  College,  and, 
after  teaching  several  years  and  farming  in  Ohio,  died  in  Cincinnati,  June  8, 
1847,  at  the  age  of  49.  He  was  a  genial,  capable  man,  though  always  suffering 
more  or  less  from  poor  health,  twice  married,  and  left  one  daughter  by  his 
first  wife,  who  has  since  died,  leaving  three  children,  one  son  and  two 
daughters  in  Ohio. 

Capt.  Ethan  Ely,  Jr.,  the  oldest  son,  born  Nov.  24,  1791,  remained  with 
his  father,  and  was  always  from  early  boyhood  his  "  right-hand  man,"  being 
very  industrious  and  hard-working,  of  great  energy  and  perseverance,  sim- 
ple in  his  habits  and  unassuming  in  manners.  He  devoted  himself  with 
singular  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  his  father,  laboring  untiringly  to  advance 
their  mutual  welfare,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  work  prosper  in 
his  hands.  As  an  instance  of  his  early  pluck  and  resolution,  he  has  related 
to  the  writer  that  in  his  i5th  year  he  walked  to  Northampton  and  back  to 
witness  the  public  execution  of  Daley  and  Halligan,  in  June,  1806,  for  the 
murder  of  Marcus  Lyon  in  Wilbraham  Nov.,  1805.  He  married  Oct.  13, 
1831,  when  about  middle  life,  and  returned  to  the  "old  red-house  "  (which 
about  this  time  became  white),  where  he  was  born,  and,  as  we  suppose,  his 
father  before  him,  and  where  a  few  years  later  his  only  son,  the  writer,  first 
saw  the  light, — three  generations  of  the  family  thus  having  been  cradled 
under  that  venerable  roof-tree.  His  only  wife  was  Ann  Cooley,  daughter  of 
Seth  and  Ann  Cooley,  with  whom  he  lived  less  than  four  years,  and  who 
died  in  May,  1835,  leaving  a  babe  nine  days  old,  after  which  he  returned  to 
live  with  his  father  and  sister  until  this  babe  had  grown  to  manhood,  when, 
in  1855,  twenty  years  later,  the  old  house  was  moved  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  and  in  1856  the  present  structure  was  erected,  being  finished  the 
following  spring,  and  occupied  in  Sept.,  1857,  by  the  son,  who  was  then  mar- 
ried, and  with  whom  the  father  lived  until  his  death,  Aug.  28,  1875,  at  the 
age  of  83  years  and  nine. months.  When  near  the  end,  and  feeling  the  bur- 
den "of  his  weakness  and  infirmities  bearing  him  down,  he  remarked  that  he 
had  lived  long  enough,  and  did  n't  wish  to  live  any  longer ;  but,  with  charac- 
teristic energy  serving  him  to  the  last,  he  died  sitting  in  his  chair.  "  With 
long  life  will  I  satisfy  thee." 

As  has  been  already  shown,  his  grandfather  on  his  mother's  side  was 
Jonathan  Burt,  upon  whose  monument  it  is  inscribed  that  he  died  April  18, 
1794,  in  his  56th  year,  "in  a  sudden  and  surprising  manner,"  without  farther 
explanation  ;  and  perhaps  it  may  be  well  to  add  here  that  he  was  found  dead 
on  the  plains  by  the  roadside,  having  fallen  from  his  horse  while  riding  from 
the  "street"  in  the  evening  to  his  home  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town. 
His  horse  arriving  without  him,  search  was  made,  and  he  was  found,  as 
above,  on  the  road  leading  east  from  the  house  of  Sylvester  Bliss,  just 


313 

before  it  intersects  the  road  from  the  center.  A  monument  was  erected  to 
mark  the  spot,  but  was  for  some  reason  afterward  removed.  It  was  sup- 
posed at  the  time  that  he  died  in  a  "  fit,"  but  whether  he  did,  or  whether  he 
simply  fell  asleep  as  he  "jogged  "  homeward,  and  was  killed  by  falling  from 
his  horse,  is  a  mystery  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  "forest-gloom"  where 
he  died  unattended.  Adjutant  Jonathan  Burt,  and  Hannah  Cooley,  his  wife, 
had  nine  children ;  an  only  son,  Jonathan,  a  promising  young  man,  who  died 
June  8,  1803,  at  the  age  of  22,  and  eight  daughters,  all  but  one  of  whom 
were  married,  and  all  of  these — save  one — are  supposed  to  have  left 
children. 

As  the  writer  was  once  engaged  in  trimming  the  old  elm  still  standing  in 
front  of  his  premises,  his  father  called  his  attention  to  the  mark  of  a 'large 
low  arm  that  had  been  removed  many  years  before,  and  related  this  incident 
in  connection  with  it,  which  may  be  of  interest  here : 

When  peace  was  declared  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  the  old  bell 
was  rung  so  vigorously  that  it  was  cracked,  and  on  being  recast  and 
returned,  before  being  hoisted  to  its  original  perch  in  the  old  tower  it  was 
swung  up  under  this  low  lateral  branch  and  tested,  to  see  if  the  work  of  re- 
casting was  well  done  ;  and  it  not  only  stood  that  test,  but  it  has  stood  all 
the  tests  of  all  the  years  that  have  since  intervened,  and  still  sends  forth  its 
silvery  tones,  though  the  good  old  familiar  custom  of  ringing  it  at  12 
o'clock  noon,  and  9  o'clock  evening,  has  been  discontinued,  as  also  much  of 
the  tolling. 

It  may  be  observed  that  the  worthy  title  of  "Deacon"  seems  to  adhere 
in  the  Ely  family,  which  may  be  partly  due  to  frequent  intermarriages  with 
the  Coltons,  in  whose  behalf  it  is  claimed  that  they  had  a  "perpetual 
grant  "  of  this  time-honored  prefix.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  has  come  to  be  a 
chronic  habit  with  certain  publishers  to  assume  that  our  Elys  are  "  Deacons," 
even  to  the  sixth  and  seventh  generation. 

In  the  brief  sketch  thus  given,  and  for  the  sake  of  brevity  and  direct- 
ness, we  have  confined  ourselves  to  the  "male  line"  of  the  family,  though 
there  have  been  worthy  daughters  as  well  as  sons,  of  whom  mention  might 
be  made  :  and  it  may  be  well  to  add  concerning  the  more  recent,  that  Dea. 
Nathaniel,  Jr.,  had  four,  the  youngest  of  whom,  Martha,  we  have  already 
mentioned.  Mary,  the  eldest,  married  Capt.  David  Mack,  Jr.,  and  died  in 
Amherst,  Dec.  15,  1842,  where  she  and  her  mother  are  buried.  Elizabeth 
married  Elisha  Taylor  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  she  died,  and  Beulah  mar- 
ried Timothy  Goodwin  of  Simsbury,  Conn.,  all  except  Mrs.  Taylor  having 
children. 

Of  the  three  daughters  of  his  brother  Ethan,  Hannah,  the  eldest, 
remained  with  her  father  unmarried,  speeding  her  days  in  the  old  home- 
stead, where  she  devoted  herself  to  every  good  work  with  rare  fidelity,  and 
died  Dec.  30,  1872,  in  her  8oth  year.  In  her  earlier  life  she  was  the  first 
Preceptress  of  Monson  Academy,  and  helped  to  organize  the  first  Sabbath- 
school  in  that  town. 


3*4 

Abigail  married  Rev.  Artemas  Boies,  and  died  at  South  Hadley,  April  26, 
1826,  in  her  32d  year,  leaving  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  the  son 
being  William  Ely  Boies,  now  resident  on  the  old  homestead  of  his  grand- 
father Ely.  The  daughter,  Jane,  married  Rev.  J.  L.  Dickinson,  and  died  at 
Plainville,  Conn.,  in  1858,  where  she  and  her  husband  are  buried,  leaving 
three  children,  two  daughters  and  an  infant  son,  the  latter  dying  soon  after 
the  mother. 

Sarah,  the  youngest,  married  Justus  Boies,  Esq.,  a  brother  of  Artemas, 
they  being  sons  of  David  Boies  of  Blandford,  where  she  resided  more  than 
twenty  years  on  the  family  homestead  out  at  the  "  Gore,"  and  had  six  chil- 
dren, three  sons  and  three  daughters,  only  two  of  whom  survive  at  this  date, 
though  all  lived  to  reach  adult  life,  and  all  except  the  youngest,  who  died  in 
the  army,  have  left  children.  Later  they  removed  to  Northampton,  where 
the  father  died  in  1859,  and  where  both  are  buried,  the  mother  dying  Dec. 
7,  1880,  in  her  85th  year. 

As  we  recount  the  list  of  our  female  -worthies  who  have  lived  and  served 
their  generations  and  passed  away,  we  go  back  to  Mary  Day,  the  fruitful 
wife  of  our  ancestor,  Samuel  Ely  of  Springfield,  who  was  the  mother  of  fif- 
teen children,  and  twice  married  afterwards,  and  we  say — "  Many  daughters 
have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  excellest  them  all." 

THE   FIELD   FAMILY. 

Jabez  Colton's  genealogy  may  be  supplemented  from  other  family  records, 
as  follows  :  Zachariah  Field,  grandson  of  John  Field,  a  noted  astronomer, 
came  to  New  England  about  1630  and  settled  in  Dorchester.  He  removed 
in  1636  to  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  in  1658  joined  a  company  of  sixty  who  pur- 
chased of  the  Nonotuck  Indians  a  tract  of  land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Con- 
necticut river,  extending  twelve  miles  from  Mt.  Holyoke  to  the  bank  oppo- 
site Mt  Nequamp  (now  Sugar  Loaf),  and  nine  miles  back  from  the  river. 
His  grandson,  Thomas,  removed  from  Hatfield  to  Longmeadow  about  1728. 
Moses  Field,  son  of  Thomas,  was  a  soldier  in  the  French  and  Indian  war 
at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  and  a  captain  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution. 
Another  son  of  Thomas,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  in  1745,  was  a  physi- 
cian in  Saybrook  and  a  prominent  revolutionary  patriot.  Simeon,  his 
brother,  was  also  a  graduate  of  Yale,  a  physician  in  Enfiekl,  Conn.,  and  also 
a  tavern-keeper  there,  and  son-in-law  of  Rev.  Peter  Raynolds,  the  Enfield 
pastor.  He  raised  a  company  of  100  men  for  the  Revolutionary  army,  for 
which  the  town  voted  him  ,£25.  Oliver  Field,  son  of  Moses  and  Rebecca 
Cooley  Field,  served  five  years  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution.  His  brother, 
Col.  Alexander  Field,  was  a  man  of  large  estate  and  prominent  influence, 
of  commanding  appearance  and  courteous  address,  who  dressed  in  the  cos- 
tume of  a  gentleman  of  the  old  style,  and  rode  to  church  in  his  carriage. 
His  nephew,  Moses  Field,  who  remained  unmarried,  was  very  highly 
respected  for  his  piety,  intelligence,  industry,  and  integrity,  and  pursued  the 
vocation  of  the  village  tailor. 


315 

THE  GOLDTHWAIT  FAMILY. 

The  Goldthwait  family  was  a  group  of  "peculiar  people,"  every  member 
strongly  marked  by  individual  traits.  The  father,  Lieut.  Erastus,  grave, 
simple,  genuinely  good,  with  dashes  of  a  quaint  and  quiet  humor  ; — the 
mother,  Hannah,  daughter  of  Dea.  William  and  granddaughter  of  Dea. 
Aaron  Colton,  a  bright,  cheery  woman,  brimful  of  the  true  Colton  humor 
and  piety  beautifully  blended. 

Flavel,  the  eldest  son  of  Erastus  and  the  only  surviving  child  of  his  first 
wife,  Rhoda  Burt,  by  his  strong  native  powers  of  mind  and  diligent  use  of 
opportunities  comparatively  meager  rising  through  various  positions  of  use- 
fulness and  trust,  became  finally,  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  later  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,  an  enthusiastic  and  successful  teacher.  Teaching,  indeed,  seems 
almost  a  special  Goldthwait  vocation — inherited,  perhaps,  from  one  of  their 
early  New  England  ancestors,  Ezekiel  Cheever,  for  seventy  years  the 
famous  Latin-school  teacher  of  Boston.  It  is  certainly  a  noteworthy  fact 
that  Erastus  the  father,  and  all  his  descendants,  with  but  two  exceptions, 
have  been,  at  some  period  of  their  lives,  teachers.  Flavel  died  at  the  early 
age  of  37,  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  but  having  already  made  his  mark  as  a 
highly-beloved  and  respected  member  of  society. 

Jonathan,  the  next  son,  was  a  born  genius,  with  his  full  share  of  the  pecu- 
liarities which  mark  such  delicate  organizations.  He  distinguished  himself 
as  an  engraver. 

Most  distinguished  of  all,  however,  both  in  the  endowments  and  the 
"  peculiarities  "  of  natural  genius,  was  William,  the  youngest  son,  widely 
known  as  an  enthusiastic  and  successful  teacher.  Both  as  Principal  of  the 
Westfield  Academy  and  as  a  select  and  family  school  teacher  in  his  native 
village,  his  enduring  monument  is  in  the  memories  of  hundreds  of  his  pupils, 
whose  testimony  to  the  impulse  received  from  him  is  emphatic.  He  died 
November  18,  1882.  The  following  characterization  of  him  is  from  the 
Springfield  Republican  of  that  date  : 

Mr.  Goldthwait  was  a  thoroughly  original  character,  of  marked  peculiarities  both 
in  person  and  address  ;  an  alert  and  stimulating  teacher ;  as  a  writer  and  speaker, 
bright,  witty,  quaint,  and  striking,  both  in  thought  and  expression  ;  a  lover  of  nature 
and  poetry ;  greatly  fond  of  good  books  and  good  people  ;  extending  his  research 
beyond  his  vocation  into  various  sciences,  and  particularly  that  of  agriculture.  He 
wielded  a  prolific  and  useful  pen,  being  for  a  considerable  period  editor  of  the 
Massachusetts  Teacher,  and  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  English  Grammar.  He  was 
in  large  demand  for  educational  and  agricultural  addresses.  The  degree  of  A.M. 
was  conferred  on  him  by  Williams  College.  Of  a  fine  mental  fiber,  warm  and  true 
in  his  affections,  and  with  the  native  instincts  of  a  gentleman,  he  won  many  hearty 
friends,  and  was  widely  and  highly  respected.  Beyond  all  other  qualities  he  was 
marked  by  a  devout,  tender,  and  ever-ripening  piety,  embodying  in  all  his  daily  walks 
and  conversation  the  hymn  of  Dwight — "  I  love  thy  Church,  O  God." 


THE  HALE  FAMILY. 

Jabez  Colton  leaves  a  preliminary  gap  in  his  records  which  may  be  in  part 
supplied  by  the  following  data.  The  family  has  been  traced  back  to  Thomas 
Hale  of  Codicote,  Hertfordshire,  England,  who  lived  in  the  beginning  of  the 
Sixteenth  century.  Thomas  Hale,  the  glover,  probably  the  son  of  Thomas 
above  mentioned,  came  from  England  to  Newburg  about  1630.  The  Hales 
were  prominent  among  the  settlers  of  Charlestown  and  Old  Newburg.  One 
of  the  sons  of  Thomas  Hale  of  Newburg  removed  to  Coventry,  Conn.,  from 
whom  descended  Nathan,  the  Revolutionary  spy,  and  David,  the  New  York 
editor  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  while  another  son,  Thomas,  ancestor  of 
the  Longmeadow  Hales,  removed  to  Enfield,  Conn.,  and  married  Pricella 
Markham.  His  son  Thomas  married  Experience  Burt,  daughter  of  Nathan- 
iel and  Rebecca  Burt  of  East  Longmeadow.  The  Hales  were  an  influential 
family  and  settled  largely  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  where  they  were 
the  largest  land-owners.  The  first  marble  grave-stones  in  the  old  cemetery 
bear  the  name  of  Hale. 

THE  STEBBINS  FAMILY. 

The  following  additional  memoranda  respecting  the  Stebbins  family  have 
been  kindly  furnished  by  one  of  the  descendants  whose  authority  will  not 
be  questioned —Oliver  Bliss  Stebbins,  of  the  New  England  Historical  and 
Genealogical  Society : 

Concerning  the  Stebbins  family,  Master  Jabez  writes  :  "  Rowland  Steb- 
bins, as  far  as  known,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  ancestor  of  all  of  his 
name  in  New  England."  If  he  means  ancestor  of  all  then  living  in  New 
England  he  is  probably  correct,  but  if  he  means  ancestor  of  all  of  the  name 
who  were  ever  born  in  New  England  he  is  decidedly  wrong. 

There  were  five  (and  possibly  six)  emigrants  by  the  name  of  Stebbing  or 
Stebbins  who  came  to  Massachusetts  during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  settle- 
ment; ist.  Rowland  Stebbing,  as  he  was  called  in  England,  born  in  1594, 
sailed  from  the  port  of  Ipswich,  County  of  Suffolk,  Eng.,  in  the  ship  Fran- 
cis, with  his  wife  Sarah  and  his  children  Thomas,  John,  Sarah,  and  Eliza- 
beth. He  arrived  at  Boston  in  July,  1634,  and  is  supposed  to  have  settled 
at  Roxbury,  though  after  a  diligent  search  I  can  find  no  record  of  his  con- 
nection with  the  church  of  that  town,  nor  any  evidence  of  his  having  been  a 
settler  there.  His  removal  to  Springfield  after  1636,  and  to  Northampton 
after  1664,  are  more  authentic  facts.  Rowland's  son,  Lieutenant  Thomas, 
the  ancestor  of  the  Longmeadow  line,  born  in  England  in  1620,  married  in 
November,  1645,  Hannah  Wright,  who  is  said  to  have  been  daughter  of 
Deacon  Samuel  Wright,  but  in  the  Wright  genealogy  I  find  no  daughter 
Hannah  mentioned. 

2d.  Deacon  Edward  Stebbins  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  was  probably  the  first 
Stebbins  who  came  over,  as  he  was  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1632-3.  He 
went  with  the  great  Hooker  emigration  to  Hartford  in  1636.  He  was  for 
several  years  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Legislature,  and  one  of  the  most 
respected  citizens  of  Hartford.  He  died  in  1663,  leaving  three  daughters. 


3d.  John  Stebbins,  born  (probably  in  England)  in  1611,  settled  at  Rox- 
bury,  married  Ann  Munke  in  1644  for  his  first  wife.  He  died,  probably  at 
Roxbury,  December  4,  1681,  aged  70,  and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  the 
corner  of  Washington  and  Eustis  streets,  now  in  Boston,  where  his  grave- 
stone is  still  to  be  seen.  I  have  never  found  any  record  of  children. 

4th.  John  Stebbins,  born  (probably  in  England)  in  1601  or  1605,  settled 
at  Watertown,  Mass.,  previous  to  1640.  He  married  Margaret  —  — ,  and 
had  a  son  John,  born  at  Watertown  in  1640.  He  is  probably  the  John  Steb- 
bins who  became  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  New  London,  Conn.,  in  1645, 
as  he  is  known  to  have  sold  his  property  in  Watertown  before  that  date  and 
is  never  afterwards  heard  of  in  that  town.  John  Stebbins  was  chosen  con- 
stable of  New  London  February  25,  1649-50,  and  held  other  public  offices. 
He  died  at  New  London  about  1685,  aged  80  or  84,  (he  gives  his  age  differ- 
ently on  two  deeds,)  leaving  two  sons,  John  who  died  1707,  Daniel,  and  one 
daughter.  The  sons  both  married,  but  I  have  found  no  record  of  descendants. 

5th.  Martin  Stebbins,  born  (probably  in  England)  about  1589,  located  at 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  before  1640.  He  kept  a  brew-house  and  tavern  in  Boston 
many  years.  His  wife  Jane  died  July  24,  1659.  He  was  living  in  1658,  aged 
about  69,  but  the  time  of  his  death  is  not  ascertained.  He  had  two  daugh- 
ters, Hannah,  born  October  3,  1640,  and  Mary,  born  February  i,  1642,  but 
there  is  no  record  of  any  son. 

6th.  Hinman,  in  his  "  Puritan  Settlers  of  Connecticut,"  mentions  a  Fran- 
cis Stebbins  of  Connecticut  (town  not  mentioned)  who  died  in  1673,  leaving 
five  daughters  and  one  son,  Joseph,  who  was  born  in  1668.  His  eldest  child, 
Sarah,  was  born  in  1653.  This  Francis  may  have  been  a  son  of  Deacon 
Edward  of  Hartford,  though  it  is  not  probable.  Hinman  also  mentions 
Samuel  Stebin,  son  of  George,  who  married  in  1652  Bethia  Loomis. 

7th.  Farmer's  Genealogical  Register  mentions  an  Increase  Stebbins  of 
Springfield  in  1650,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  find  any  other  account  of  him, 
and  am  disposed  to  think  it  an  error.  OLIVER  B.  STEBBINS. 

The  "  Clark  Stebbins  "  referred  to  on  page  40  as  a  local  poet  of  some 
reputation,  is  the  Jonathan  Stebbins  of  Mr.  Colton's  genealogy — see  page 
84.  He  derived  his  popular  title  from  the  office  of  Precinct  Clerk,  which 
he  held  for  an  unusually  long  term  of  years.  A  manuscript  volume  of  his 
poems,  of  considerable  size,  is  in  the  possession  of  one  of  his  descend- 
ants,— Mrs.  E.  W.  Parsons  of  Hartford,  Conn.  The  Elegy  upon  the  death 
of  Mr.  Jonathan  Ely,  given  in  fac  simile  upon  page  309,  is  a  favorable 
specimen  of  his  poetry  ; — as  is  also  the  following  spirited  quatrain  from  the 
manuscript  volume  referred  to : 

"  I  value  not  tho'  Earth  and  Hell, 

Yea,  Men  and  Devils  too, 
Spit  Venom  at  the  truths  I  tell, 
If  Conscience  Says  they're  true" 


THE  STORRS  FAMILY. 

The  only  two  sons  of  the  large  family  of  Pastor  Storrs,  whose  adult  life 
was  in  any  considerable  measure  identified  with  Longmeadow,  were  Jona- 
than and  Eleazer  Williams.  Of  these  the  former,  though  giving  unusual 
mental  promise  in  his  earliest  years,  sustained  such  severe  injury  by  illness 
in  childhood  as  to  restrict  his  subsequent  activities  and  influence  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  great  physical  endurance,  and  a  memory  of.  extraordinary 
range  and  retentiveness.  He  was  a  diligent  and  conscientious  Bible  reader 
during  all  his  long  life,  and  could  give  at  once  the  chapter  and  verse  loca- 
tion of  almost  any  passage  when  repeated  to  him.  Many  of  his  quaint 
aphorisms  are  still  preserved  in  tradition,  both  by  their  own  Attic  salt,  and 
by  a  certain  peculiarity  of  his  hesitating  rapid  utterance,  e.  g.,  "  If-you-want- 
to-be-rich  —  you-must-save-half-you-earn — and-live-a-long-time  ;  " — the  un- 
surpassed condensation  of  volumes  of  political  economy,  and  of  the  truth  of 
which  his  own  life  was  a  good  illustration. 

Of  Eleazer  Williams,  the  youngest  son.  who  died  at  the  old  homestead  of 
his  birth  April  6.  1880,  at  the  advanced  age  of  80  years,  the  following  char- 
acterization is  condensed  from  an  extended  sketch  by  his  pastor  in  the 
Congregationalist  of  June  20,  1880  : 

The  life  of  this  beloved  parishioner  well  illustrated  the  usefulness  and  joy  of  a 
consecrated  secular  activity,  and  the  power  of  the  faith  which  had  dwelt  in  the  fam- 
ily traditions  and  covenant  blessings  of  many  generations.  It  illustrated,  too,  the 
private  ministry  of  the  Word  as  coincident  with,  and  complementing,  in  the  same 
family  the  more  public  and  illustrious  calling  of  the  ordained  pastor.  Lineally 
descended  from  Rev.  John  Williams  of  Deerfield  and  Dr.  Stephen  Williams  of 
Longmeadow,  he  was  the  youngest  son  of  Rev.  Richard  Salter  Storrs,  the  successor 
of  Dr.  Williams  in  the  Longmeadow  pastorate,  and  the  brother  of  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S. 
Storrs  of  Braintree  and  Rev.  Pres.  Charles  Storrs  of  Western  Reserve  College. 

He  entered  in  early  life  the  mercantile  profession,  and  continued  it  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,  at  Richmond,  Va.,  at  Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  at  Amherst,  Mass.,  and  for  the 
longer  period  of  his  maturer  years  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  connection  with  the  firm 
of  George  and  Charles  Merriam.  His  bright  face,  speaking  eye,  and  genial  wel- 
come are  yet  living  remembrances  of  many  who  used  to  frequent  the  "  Old  Corner 
Book-store."  Seconded  by  the  warm  and  abundant  generosity  of  intimate  and 
deeply  attached  Christian  brethren  in  Springfield,  Mr.  Storrs'  business  life  gradu- 
ally merged  into  a  missionary  life.  This  consisted  in  visiting  the  poor  and  sick  and 
aged,  in  comforting  afflicted  and  distressed  ones,  in  befriending  and  reclaiming 
inebriates,  in  persuading  the  sellers  of  intoxicating  drink  to  abandon  their  traffic,  in 
visiting  prisoners  and  the  inmates  of  the  almshouse,  in  aiding  the  colored  people  of 
Springfield  to  establish  a  Sabbath  School  and  other  religious  institutions,  in  convers- 
ing with  young  men,  towards  whom  he  had  a  peculiar  drawing  of  affection,  and  with 
all  to  whom  his  genial  nature  gave  him  access,  on  their  personal  religious  interests. 
His  diaries,  which  it  has  been  my  great  and  sacred  privilege  to  peruse,  contain 
transparent,  touching  and  unaffected  evidences  on  every  page  of  his  genuine,  simple, 
burning  zeal  for  human  welfare  wherever  he  could  lend  his  hand,  or  voice,  or  win- 
ning sympathies.  They  contain  evidences,  too,  of  a  wonderful  strength  and  sim- 
plicity of  faith,  and  a  constant  reliance  on  the  power  of  prayer 


319 

Worn  out  by  incessant  zeal  and  the  unbroken  activities  of  his  loving  ministry,  he 
was  compelled  at  length  to  seek  comparative  rest  in  the  retirement  of  his  native  vil- 
lage, and  in  the  sweet  solace  of  the  old  homestead  and  the  friends  of  his  youth. 

He  carried  into  these  later  years  the  same  earnest  fidelity  and  warm  affections  and 
loving  activities,  although  with  the  limitations  of  a  broken  constitution  and  precarious 
health.  In  the  Sabbath  School,  the  prayer  meeting,  the  public  worship  and  every 
other  service  of  the  church,  as  a  collector  for  benevolent  causes  from  house  to  house, 
giving  generously  himself  and  persuading  and  inspiring  others  to  give,  full  of  neigh- 
borly kindness,  visiting  the  sick,  comforting  the  sorrowing,  supporting  the  weak, 
lifting  up  the  fallen,  a  fellow-helper  everywhere ;  always  ready,  firm  and  sure.  .  .  . 

And  yet  there  were  intervals  when,  like  William  Cowper,  whom  he  much  resem- 
bled in  native  temperament,  his  soul  was  unstrung,  and  he  sank  down  into  morbid 
depths  of  mental  depression. 

When  the  civil  war  broke  out,  however,  his  patriotic  ardor  completely  lifted  him 
out  of  his  despondency  and  thrilled  his  whole  being  with  fresh  impulses  and  a  larger 
life.  That  grand  impulse  carried  him  forward  with  only  slight  returns  of  his  old 
malady,  and  his  autumnal  days,  as  the  infirmities  of  old  age  crept  on,  were  singu- 
larly serene,  sweet  and  happy His  life  went  out  as  the  sun  goes  down  in  the 

glow  that  floods  the  western  sky. 

THE  WILLIAMS  FAMILY. 

The  following  brief  autobiographical  sketch  from  among  Dr.  Williams' 
manuscripts  may  perhaps  usefully  supplement  the  Williams  genealogical 
statistics,  and  fitly  close  this  portion  of  the  volume. 

Stephen  Williams  was  born  at  Deerfd  May  14,  1693.  His  Great  Grandfathers 
who  came  out  of  England  were,  on  his  Fathers  fide,  Mr  Robert  Williams  and  Dean 
William  Park  of  Roxbury.  On  His  mother's  Side  the  Rev"  Richard  Mather  of  Dor- 
chefter  and  the  Revd  John  Warham  of  Windfor.  His  Grandfathers  were  Dean 
Sam1  Williams  of  Roxbury  and  The  Revd  Eleazr  Mather  of  Northampton.  His 
Father  was  ye  Revd  John  Williams  and  his  mother  mrs  Eunice  Mather.  S.  W. 

I  was  taken  captive  by  the  Indians  Feb1?  29,  lyof ;  Continued  with  the  Indians 
till  April  30,  1705  ;  was  then  brought  out  of  their  Hands,  and  Sent  to  live  with  my 
Father,  at  Chatauriche.  I  came  from  Quebeck  with  Colon1  Dudly  in  the  beginning 
of  Octobr  1705,  and  arivd  at  Bofton  on  ye  21  of  Novembr  1705;  but  left  my  Honrd 
Father  and  my  Brethren  Sam1  and  Warham  and  my  Sifter  Eunice  behind.  My 
Father  and  my  two  Brothers  came  to  Bofton  the  next  year  on  Novembr  21,  1706,  but 
poor  Eunice  is  yet  in  that  Country,  if  living. 

My  Relations  and  others  were  kind  to  me,  and  I  was  kept  at  School  at  Roxbury, 
till  my  Father's  return ;  yea  for  a  year  after,  and  then  went  home  to  Deerfield  (my 
Father  then  being  married  again.)  I  ftudid  fome  time  at  Deerfield  but  ye  Town  being 
but  as  a  Garrifon  full  of  foldiers,  and  two  families  in  my  Father's  Houfe,  I  could 
not  profecute  my  ftudies  ;  fo  that  I  was  Sent  to  live  with  my  uncle  Williams  of 
Hatfield,  and  from  thence  I  went  to  Cambridge  College  in  July  1709,  and  was  ad- 
mitt11  a  member  of  the  College..  After  I  took  my  degree,  I  Kept  School  at  Hadly ; 
I  was  Examin"  for  preaching  y»  latter  end  of  ye  year  1714;  and  came  to  Long- 
meadow  Novembr  26,  1714.  I  was  not  ordainj  till  Octobr  1716. 

I  was  marr"  to  Mr"  Abigail  Davenport  of  Stamford  on  the  3'"  of  July  1718,  by 
whom  I  had  Six  Sons  and  two  Daughters,  who  are  all  liveing,  except  Davenport  (my 
fifth  Son)  who  Dyd  in  the  Army  in   1758 ;   my  Grand  children  (now,  January  31, 
1769)  are  thirty  three,     my  wife  dyd  Aug"  26,  1766. 
42 


320 

I  was  weakly  when  I  First  Set  out  in  the  world  ;  but  have  been  remarkably  Fav- 
oured ;  fo  that  when,  I  have-  been  at  Home,  (for  I  was  dangeroufly  Sick  when  at 
Louisbourg  in  ye  year  1745),  I  have  not  been  Kept  from  the  publick  worfhip  but 
one  day  and  a  half  in  52  years,  and  the  people  in  the  place  have  not  Loft  one  time 
for  ye  Sacrem*  all  ye  time  I  have  been  their  Minifter.  when  I  was  abroad  in  my 
Country's  fervice,  the  Sacrem1  was  adminiftred  by  ye  neighbouring  Miniflers. 

I  was  Employ*1  by  Governour  Belcher  and  the  Comiffioners  to  treat  with  the 
Houfatunnick  Indians  about  receiving  the  Gofpel  ;  attempts  were  fo  far  fucceedd 
that  the  Revd  Mr  Sergeant  was  fettled  among  them,  and  a  chh  Gather"  in  ye  year 

1735- 

I  was  Chaplin  to  a  Regim'  y*  went  to  Louisbourg  in  1745;  was  taken  Sick  at 
Louisbourg,  was  carrd  on  Ship  Board,  very  Sick,  and  was  very  ill  on  the  paffage ; 
came  to  Bofton  on  ye  Latr  End  of  Novembr  1745 ;  was  kindly  receivd  and  taken 
care  of  by  my  worthy  Friend  Abiel  Walker  Efqr ;  was  reftored  to  Health  after  con- 
fiderable  time ;  but  did  not  get  to  my  Own  Home,  till  Febr>'  i,  1746.  In  ye  year 
1746  I  was  engaged  again  as  Chaplin  to  a  regiment  Defigned  to  join  ye  Army  yl  was 
to  go  agf  Canada,  but  the  Expedition  fell  thro'.  In  ye  year  1755  I  was  again  Em- 
ploy11 as  a  Chaplin  in  ye  Expedition  againft  Crown  Point;  was  at  Lake  George  when 

our  camp  was  attackd  by  the  French  and  Indians  under  Gen1  De  on  Septr 

8th  1755-  In  y'year  1756  I  was  again  Engaged  as  a  Chaplin ;  went  to  Lake  George 
but  was  taken  ill ;  had  the  Diarrhea,  Diffentery,  Jaundice  fo  that  I  left  the  Army 
before  the  campaign  Broke  up  ;  I  return*  Home,  and  in  the  Fall  and  winter  had  two 
diftreffing  fitts  of  ye  vertigo  &c  ;  upon  this  I  altered  my  way  of  liveing ;  have  lived 
more  abftemioufly ;  Eat  no  Salt  provifion,  and  but  little  Butcher's  meat,  Except  mut- 
ton ;  have  refrain"  from  all  Spirituous  liquor  &c.  This  I  believe  has  Greatly  fervd 
my  Health  fo  that  I  have  been  able  to  attend  my  publick  work  with  Comfort  in  my 
Latter  days. 

In  the  courfe  of  my  miniftry  I  have  been  call"  to  attend  at  councils  in  Cafes  of 

Difficulty  in  ....  thefe  fervices  are  fatiguing  and  really  worrying In  this 

place  we  have  had  our  Difficulties  but  in  the  Generall  have  had  peace  and  quiet. 

I  have  feen  abundance  of  the  Goodnefs,  mercy  and  Kindnefs  of  God  in  the  courfe 
of  my  life,  For  which  I  defire  to  render  praife  to  allmighty  God,  the  Giver  of 
Every  Good  Gift — and  to  God  I  would  look,  and  upon  the  Lord  I  would  wait  for  ye 
pardon  of  my  Sin.  The  Lord  be  pleaf  to  humble  me  for  my  Defects  and  failures 
and  miferable  fhortcomings  as  to  duty.  Oh  Lord  be  pleafed  to  forgive  me  for  ye 
Sake  of  the  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  the  Great  propiatory  Sacrifice. 

Thefe  things  I  committ  to  writing,  efpecially  what  relates  to  my  anceftors  for  the 
information  of  my  children  ;  and  defire  they  may  all  be  concern"  to  Exalt  the  God 
of  their  forefathers.  As  to  what  you  have  feen  amifs  in  me  your  Father,  carefully 
avoid  it.  What  you  have  feen  agreable  to  Chrifts  will  Endeavor  to  imitate,  and  mind 
the  charge  that  David  gave  to  his  fon  Solomon  as  contain"  Chron  28th  9lh. 

From  your  affectionate  Father,  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS. 

P.  S.  I  entered  into  the  marriage  flate  on  Septembr  17,  1767,  with  Mr"  Sarah 
Burt,  the  relicl  widow  of  my  dear  Friend  Dean  Nath1  Burt,  who  was  with  me  in  the 
Army  in  1755,  and  fell  in  the  memorable  Battle  at  Lake  George  Septembr  8,  1755. 


321 


Note.  It  may  interest  some  former  residents  of  Longmeadow  into  whose  hands 
this  volume  may  come,  to  know  that  the  landscape  and  street  views  here  given  are 
sections  and  reductions  of  larger  wall  pictures  taken  by  Mr.  Lazelle  with  his  unique 
revolving  camera,  in  a  size  and  style  suitable  for  framing,  and  which  can  be 
obtained  by  correspondence  with  him  at  his  studio,  358  Main  Street,  Springfield. 
With  a  generosity  as  rare  as  it  was  helpful,  Mr.  Lazelle  placed  his  entire  stock  of 
photographic  negatives  at  the  disposal  of  the  undersigned,  thus  making  possible 
for  the  volume  a  series  of  illustrations  which  could  not  otherwise  have  been  secured 
at  the  season  of  the  year  when  the  book  was  projected  and  mainly  prepared. 

Perhaps,  in  justice  to  the  autoglyphist,  W.  P.  Allen  of  Gardner,  Mass.,  to  whose 
skill  the  book  is  indebted  for  the  printed  pictures,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  neg- 
atives, thus  taken  without  special  reference  to  his  transferring  process,  were  una- 
vailable for  it  except  through  a  second  transfer — a  process  necessarily  somewhat 
impairing  the  sharpness  and  brilliancy  of  the  final  result.  The  meadow  picture 
fronting  page  9  is  especially  disappointing  ;  and  is  reluctantly  admitted  as  being  the 
only  picture  possibility  (without  undue  delay)  of  a  landscape  of  surpassing  beauty 
under  favorable  conditions.  The  portrait  of  Mrs.  SchaufHer — p.  74 —  and  the  picture 
of  the  old  elm — p.  108 — are,  however,  favorable  specimens  of  the  autoglyphic  pro- 
cess as  applied  to  negatives  taken  specially  for  it. 

R.  S.  STORKS,  Sefy. 


GENEALOGICAL  APPENDIX. 


The  Genealogical  Record  Book  of  Longmeadow  families  now  in  the 
archives  of  the  town  owes  its  origin  to  the  diligence  and  devotion  of 
a  former  Town  Clerk,  Mr.  Jabez  Colton,  traditionally  known  as  "  Mas- 
ter Jabe,"  who  employed  a  large  part  of  his  time  in  the  early  years  of 
the  present  century  in  collecting  from  the  records  of  Springfield  and 
adjacent  towns  and  from  every  other  accessible  source  genealogical 
information  respecting  the  early  Longmeadow  families.  Carrying 
with  him,  wherever  he  went,  his  pocket  ink-horn  and  memorandum 
book,  he  was  always  on  the  alert  for  such  information  and  ready  to 
record  it ;  and  the  result  of  his  enthusiasm  and  industry  extending 
over  a  period  of  eight  years  is  this  unique  and  almost  invaluable 
Book  of  Town  Genealogy. 

The  following  are  the  town  votes  which  preceded  the  preparation  of 
the  manuscript  volume  and  its  transfer  into  the  possession  of  the 
town. 

November  5,  1804.  Voted  that  the  town  are  desirous  to  be  at  some  expense  to 
have  the  record  of  births,  marriages  and  deaths  of  former  and  present  inhabitants 
of  the  town  collected  as  far  as  may  be  and  arranged  by  families  into  a  proper  book 
shewing  their  relations  and  connections  to  one  another  with  an  alphabet  for  the  same, 
and  that  the  selectmen  be  their  committee  to  direct  both  as  to  the  manner  and 
expense  of  doing  the  business. 

"  Master  Jabe,"  being  at  that  time  and  for  twenty  years  before  and 
after  the  Town  Clerk,  and  by  taste  and  education  specially  fitted  for 
such  a  work,  seems  to  have  been  the  agent  employed  by  the  select- 
men for  carrying  out  this  vote,  though  no  record  exists  of  any  agree- 
ment between  them. 

Nov.  2,  1812,  however,  the  town  voted  that  Capt.  Gideon  Colton,  Deacon  William 
Colton,  Capt.  Ethan  Ely,  Seth  Taylor,  and  Dr.  Oliver  Bliss  be  a  committee  to  con- 
sider what  sum  it  would  be  proper  for  the  town  to  grant  to  the  Town  Clerk  for  his 
service  in  collecting  records  of  the  marriages,  births,  and  deaths  of  the  ancient  'and 
present  inhabitants,  and  collecting  them  into  families. 


Nov.  12,  1812.  Voted  to  grant  to  Jabez  Colton,  Town  Clerk,  the  sum  of  twenty 
dollars  for  this  service,  and  that  the  book  containing  these  records  of  families  be 
the  property  of  the  town  and  lodged  with  the  present  and  succeeding  Town  Clerks, 
and  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  may  have  free  access  to  them  as  to  other  pub- 
lick  town  records. 

The  sum  granted  was  evidently  only  a  nominal  one,  being  ludicrously 
inadequate  as  a  compensation  for  the  time  and  effort  involved  in  the 
work.  Doubtless  it  was  largely  interwoven  by  Mr.  Colton  with  his 
legitimate  duties  as  Town  Clerk,  though  still  mainly  with  him  a  labor 
of  love.  His  real  reward  was  within  himself  and  in  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  his  townsmen. 

Additions  to  the  data  originally  collected  have  from  time  to  time  been 
made  by  subsequent  Town  Clerks  or  individuals,  but  no  systematic 
care  has  been  exercised  to  carry  on  the  record  continuously. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  the  work  so  worthily  commenced 
should  be  continued  with  equal  thoroughness,  and  to  this  end  contri- 
butions of  memoranda  of  family  history  are  solicited  from  all  readers 
who  may  note  omissions  which  their  own  authentic  information  enables 
them  to  supply.  Such  contributions  may  be  addressed  to  the  Town 
Clerk,  and  will  be  by  him  incorporated  in  the  present  manuscript 
record  with  a  view  to  future  printed  editions.  The  earlier  and  more 
difficult  portion  of  the  record  being  fortunately  thus  secured,  it  ought 
not  to  be  difficult  for  succeeding  generations  to  build  worthily  upon 
that  foundation. 

Special  acknowledgments  are  due  to  Mr.  Willard  S.  Allen,  of  East 
Boston,  for  the  loan  of  a  manuscript  copy  of  this  record,  which  he 
procured  to  be  made  some  years  since  by  the  daughter  of  the  then 
Town  Clerk,  Mr.  Oliver  Wolcott,  and  from  which  a  portion  of  the 
Record  has  since  been  published  in  the  "  New  England  Historical  and 
Genealogical  Magazine."  Without  this  timely  loan  it  would  have  been 
hardly  possible  to  have  incorporated  the  record  in  the  present  volume. 
It  is  hoped  that  all  errors  of  either  compiler  or  copyist  in  a  work  of 
such  confessed  difficulty  will  be  leniently  regarded  in  the  larger  grati- 
tude which  is  due  to  both. 

The  following  brief  biographical  notice  of  "  Master  Jabe  "  is  sub- 
joined from  information  furnished  by  his  grandson,  Mr.  Stephen  T. 
Colton,  now  a  resident  of  Longmeadow,  and  the  possessor  of  a  dupli- 


cate  copy  of  the  Genealogical  Record,  also  in  the  handwriting  of  his 
grandfather. 

Mr.  Jabez  Colton  was  born  March  20,  1747,  and  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1775.  Married  Mary  Baldwin,  of  Bozrah,  Conn.,  March  27, 
1784,  and  resided  for  a  few  years  at  Somers,  Conn.,  where  he  kept 
a  private  school,  fitting  young  men  for  college.  About  the  year  1790 
he  removed  to  Longmeadow,  where  he  also  received  students  under 
his  care,  giving  special  attention  to  their  theological  instruction.  He 
was  himself  an  acceptable  lay  preacher,  well  grounded  in  doctrinal 
theology,  and  somewhat  rigid  in  his  views — the  village  lawyer,  also — 
possessed  of  a  large  and  valuable  library,  and  for  twenty  years — from 
1793  to  1813 — the  Town  Clerk  ;  a  man  of  the  most  inflexible  integrity, 
and  implicitly  deferred  to  by  his  fellow-townsmen  as  local  antiquarian, 
and  indeed  as  sound  authority  upon  almost  any  subject.  A  good 
illustration  of  the  deep  and  permanent  influence  exerted  by  many  a 
liberally  educated  man  in  those  days  in  our  rural  New  England  com- 
munities. The  inscription  upon  his  tombstone  in  the  village  church- 
yard reads  as  follows : 

Jabez  Colton,  Esq.  |  Born  March  20, 1747  |  United  with  the  church 
|  in  1765  |  Was  graduated  at  Yale  |  College  in  1775  |  Died  April  2, 
1819,  Et.  72  |  A  man  of  inflexible  j  integrity,   of  rigid  and  |  correct 
habits,  an  useful  |  citizen,  respected  in  |  society  and  lamented  in  | 
death.  |  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord.  | 


GENEALOGICAL  RECORD  BOOK  OF  LONGMEADOW 
FAMILIES. 

Principally  of  such  as  belonged  to  Longmeadow  or  were  some  way 
connected  with  those  families ;  containing  dates  of  the  time  of  mar- 
riages, births,  and  deaths,  and  some  account  of  what  became  of  the 
children  of  the  several  families  so  far  as  these  several  things  are  known. 

This  collection  is  taken  from  public  records  in  towns  in  which  the 
several  persons  were  born  or  resided,  and  from  credible  information 
received  from  individuals.  From  the  public  records  in  Springfield 
the  greater  part  of  the  ancient  information  was  taken.  Jabez  Colton 
was  the  compiler  of  this  volume. 

MAJOR  WALTER  AINSWORTH,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathan  Ains- 
worth,  of  Woodstock,  was  married  July  22,  1794,  to  Loice  Wood, 
daughter  of  Harbous  Howard  Wood,  and  Esther,  his  wife,  of  Somers. 
Their  children — Ranslow,  born  June  30,  1795.  Loice,  born  May  12, 
1797.  Walter,  born  July  24,  1799.  Alran,  born  March  16,  1794. 
Sophia,  born  April  21,  1806.  Nathan,  born  Sept.  29,  1808. 

STEPHEN  ASHLEY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Joseph  and  Hannah 
Ashley,  of  Springfield,  was  born  April  28,  1745,  and  was  married  Feb. 
14,  1771,  to  Hannah  Cooley,  daughter  of  George  Cooley,  of  Somers. 
Their  children — Stephen,  born  Dec.  25, 1772,  died  Aug.  8,  1775.  Noah, 
born  June  17,  1774,  died  April  2,  1860.  Hannah,  born  Dec.  21,  1776. 
Hannah,  born  April  24,  1779.  Stephen,  born  Oct.  16,  1781.  Mary, 
born  June  28,  1784.  Hannah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Sept.  17, 
1799,  to  Capt.  Samuel  King.  [See  page  164.*]  Hannah,  the  mother, 
died  Oct.  26,  1802.  The  families  of  Noah  and  Stephen  see  hereafter. 
Stephen,  the  father,  died  March  21,  1820.  Age  75. 

JUSTIN  ASHLEY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  David  and  Hannah  Ashley, 
of  Springfield,  was  born ,  and  was  married  to  Love  Davis,  of  Staf- 
ford, daughter  of  Moses  Davis.  Their  children — Joseph,  born  Dec.  14, 
1788,  died  Oct.  26,  1830,  age  42.  Moses,  born  Sept.  10,  1790,  died 
Feb.  16,  1791.  Sophia,  born  June  2,  1792,  died  March  7,  1795. 
Allethea,  born  Sept.  13,  1793,  died  April  26,  1812.  Amasa,  born 

*  The  page  references  throughout  this  record  are  to  corresponding  pages  of  the 
manuscript  Record  Book  in  the  Longmeadow  archives.  They  are  retained  in  this 
reprint  simply  to  facilitate  corrections  or  additions  to  that  manuscript  when 
suggested  by  readers  in  correspondence  with  the  Town  Clerk. 


5 

March  25,  1796,  died  April  6,  1797.  Sophy,  born  March  27,  1798. 
Hannah,  born  April  27,  1800.  William,  born  June  20,  1802,  died 
March  16,  1826.  Mira,  born  June  5,  1804.  Justin  Ashley  died 
March  19,  1829.  Age  68. 

CAPT.  NOAH  ASHLEY,  son  of  Stephen  and  Hanna  Ashley  [page  2], 
was  married  Aug.  31,  1798,  to  Noamy  Field,  daughter  of  Oliver  and 
Ann  Field  [page  130].  Children — Emelia,  born  May  27, 1799.  Alex- 
ander, born  June  30,  1803.  Noah,  born  May  12,  1806.  Naomy,  the 
mother,  died  Oct.  21,  1807.  Her  death  was  occasioned  by  a  sudden 
fall  from  a  wagon.  Capt.  Noah  Ashley  was  married  again  1810  to 
Sarah  Dougles. 

STEPHEN  ASHLEY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Stephen  and  Hannah 
Ashley,  was  married  Sept.  12,  1805,  to  Polly  Field,  daugher  of  Oliver 
and  Ann  Field.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Sept.  18,  1806.  Simeon, 
born  May  21,  1808.  Catharine,  born  Feb.  u,  1820.  Harriet,  born 
July  15,  1813.  Catharine,  born  Sept.  i,  1824,  died  July  29,  1825,  age 
i.  Hannah  Cooley,  Jan.  27,  1821. 

JOHN  ATCHINSON,  of  Longmeadow,  was  married  Feb.  25,  1703,10 
Dorcas  Burt,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Rebecca  Burt  [page  24]. 
Their  children — John,  born  October  12,  1704.  Benoni,  born  Nov.  16, 
1706.  Nathaniel,  born  Oct.  18,  1709.  Dorcas,  born  Aug.  22,  1711. 
Mercy,  born  Sept.  28,  1713.  Joshua,  born  Feb.  24,  1716.  Expe- 
rience, born  May  16,  1720.  Deliverance,  born  Feb.  6,  1723.  John, 
the  son,  settled  in  Somers.  Benoni,  in  Wilbraham.  Nathaniel,  in 
West  Springfield.  Dorcas  was  married  July  4,  1754,  to  Joseph  Pom- 
eroy,  of  Suffield.  Deliverance  was  married  July  20,  1758.  Mercy 
Warriner,  of  Wilbraham,  had  children  in  Longmeadow,  removed  to 
Monson  and  died  in  that  town.  John,  the  father,  died  in  Brimfield. 
Dorcas,  his  widow,  died  in  Longmeadow,  Oct.  21,  1770.  She  was 
born  Feb.  10,  1680,  and  died  above  90  years  of  age. 

STEPHEN  AVERY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Gardner  and  Amy  Avery, 
formerly  of  Monson,  removed  to  Paria,  N.  Y.,  was  married  April  4, 
1803,  to  Mary  Stebbins,  daughter  of  Medad  and  Sarah  Stebbins 
[page  202].  Their  children — Sarah,  born  Dec.  13,  1803.  Stephen 
Stebbins,  born  Dec.  2,  1806.  Fidelia,  born  Jan.  27,  1810.  Lucinda, 
born  June  18,  1813.  Stephen  Avery  died  Oct.  7, 1813,  aged  37  years. 

BENJAMIN  BAXTER,  son  of  Francis  Baxter  of  Enfield;  was  married 
Dec.  28,  17*80,  to  Mabel  Brown.  Their  children — Benjamin,  born 

Aug.  23,  1781.  Alexander, .  Hervy,  born  May  16,  1785. 

Ruth,  born  Sept.  23,  1787.  Simeon,  born  Nov.  21,  1789.  Mabel, 
born  Aug.  21,  1791,  died  April  14,  1814.  Patty,  born  July  22,  1793. 
Mabel,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  6,  1793.  Benjamin  Baxter  was  married 
again  Jan.  22,  1794,  to  Hannah  Hale,  daughter  of  Silas  and  Hannah 
Hale  [page  140].  Their  children — Seth,  born  Sept.  29,  1794. 
Ruth  was  married  May  8,  1808,  to  Levi  Hancock. 

[Page  5  ]  LIEUT.  THADDEUS  BILLINGS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Thaddeus  Billings  of  Somers,  was  married  Nov.  14,  1778,  to  Rhoda 
Terry,  daughter  of  Samuel  Terry  of  Enfield.  He  died  April  17,  1826. 


Thaddeus,  born .  Rhoda,  born .  Rhoda,  the  mother,  died 

.  Lieut.  Thaddeus  Billings  was  married  again  to  Ruth  Brown, 

daughter  of  David  Brown,  of  Douglass,  State  of  Massachusetts.  She 
was  born  Aug.  1765.  Their  children — Ruth,  born  Oct.  n,  1787. 
Reuben,  born  Feb.  13,  1789.  Levi,  born  Dec.  25,  1790,  died  Aug.  3, 
1827.  Sally,  born  Nov.  12,  1792.  Orsemus,  born  Oct.  10,  1794. 
Daniel,  born  Nov.  12,  1796.  Cynthia,  born  Feb.  6,  1799.  Harry, 
born  March  2,  1801.  Lyman,  born  May  4,  1805.  Rhoda,  the  daugh- 
ter, was  married  Jan.  16,  1803,  to  Abner  Pratt.  Ruth,  the  daughter, 
was  married  Jan.  27,  1807,  to  Joseph  McGregory  \_page  168]. 

THADDEUS  BILLINGS  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Lieut.  Thaddeus 
Billings  above,  was  married,  1803,  to  Mercy  Waters  of  Somers, 
daughter  of .  Their  children — Mercy,  born  Dec.  4,  1804.  War- 
ren, born  Feb.  12,  1807. 

[Page  8.]  THOMAS  BLISS  died  at  Hartford.  One  of  his  sons  went 
to  Norwich,  Conn.,  who  was  the  ancestor  of  Col.  Bliss,  the  son-in-law 
of  President  Taylor.  The  widow  of  Thomas  Bliss  was  Margaret, 
who  came  to  Springfield  with  her  four  sons,  Nathaniel,  Lawrence, 
Samuel,  and  John.  Tho.  Bliss  was  married  to  Elizabeth  at  the  latter 
end  of  Oct.  1644.  Elizabeth,  born  Nov.  20, 1645.  Sara,  born  Aug.  26, 
1647.  Mary,  born  Feb.  7,  1649.  Tho.,  born  March  3,  1652.  Deliv- 
erance, born  the  beginning  of  Aug.  1655.  Samuel,  born  Dec.  9, 
1657  (see  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  iv,  p.  20).  Thomas  Bliss,  Norwich,  1660 
(see  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  i,  p.  315). 

[Page  9.]  BLISSES.  First  generation  in  Springfield.  Amongst  the 
early  inhabitants  of  Springfield  is  a  family  of  Blisses.  The  name  of 
the  father  of  this  family  is  not  mentioned  in  the  public  records,  and 
it  is  probable  that  he  died  before  they  came  to  this  town.  Two 
of  the  sons  first  married  called  their  eldest  sons  by  the  name  of 
Samuel,  hence  it  is  probable  that  was  the  name  of  their  father.  The 
mother's  name  was  Margaret.  The  children,  some  known  to  be  of 
the  same  family  by  the  records  and  all  supposed  to  belong  thereto, 
were  as  follows:  Nathaniel,  who  died  Nov.  8,  1654.  Laurence,  who 
died  1676.  Samuel,  who  died  March  23,  1720.  John,  who  died  Sept. 
10,  1702.  Mary  was  married  to  Joseph  Parsons,  Nov.  2,  1646. 
Sarah  was  married  to  John  Foot  July  20,  1659.  Hester  was  married 
to  Edward  Foster  Dec.  26,  1661.  Elizabeth  was  married  to  Sery 
Morgan  Feb.  15,  1670.  Hannah  died  Jan.  25,  1661.  The  widow, 
Margaret  Bliss,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  28,  1684.  The  families  of  the 
sons  were  as  follows  : 

2d  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BLISS,  of  Springfield,  son  of  the  before 
mentioned  family,  was  married  Nov.  20,  1646,  to  Catharine  Chapin, 
daughter  of  Deacon  Samuel  Chapin.  Their  children  were — Samuel, 
born  Nov.  7,  1647,  died  June  19,  1749,  age  102.  Margaret,  born  Nov. 
12,  1649,  died  April,  1745.  Mary,  born  Sept.  23,  1651.  Nathaniel, 
born  March  27,  1653,  died  Dec.  23,  1736.  Nathaniel,  the  father,  died 
Nov.  8,  1654.  Catharine,  his  widow,  was  married  July  31,  1655,  to 
Thomas  Gilbert,  and  had  by  him  four  children,  Thomas  Gilbert 


dying  June  5,  1662.  She  was  again  married,  Dec.  28,  1664,  to 
Samuel  Marshfield,  and  by  him  she  had  three  children,  and  she  died 
Feb.  4,  1712.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  pages  10  and  11.)  Mar- 
garet was  married  to  Nathaniel  Foot  of  Colchester.  Mary  was 
married  Feb.  27,  1670,  to  Nathaniel  Holcomb. 

2d  Generation.  LAURENCE  BLISS,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Margaret 
Bliss,  was  married  Oct.  25,  1654,  to  Lydia  Wright.  Their  children — 
Lydia,  born  Nov.  29,  1655,  died  March  27,  1656.  Sarah,  born  May 
n,  1657,  died  June  8,  1657.  Sarah,  born  April  4,  1658,  died  Sept. 
25,  1659.  Samuel,  born  June  7,  1660,  died  June  22,  1660.  Samuel, 
born  Aug.  16,  1662,  died  March  15,  1733.  Hannah,  born  May  26, 
1665,  died  Nov.  6,  1737.  Sarah,  born  Nov.  27,  1667.  William,  born 
April  28,  1670.  Pelatiah,  born  Aug.  19,  1674,  died  June  2,  1747. 
The  sons  had  families  in  Springfield.  Hannah  was  married,  Dec.  17, 
1691,  to  Captain  Thomas  Colton  of  Longmeadow  [page  50].  Sarah 
was  married  to  George  Webster  Dec.  13,  1695.  Laurence  Bliss,  the 
father,  died  1676.  Lydia.  his  widow,  was  married,  Oct.  31,  1678,  to 
John  Norton,  who  died  Aug.  24,  1687,  and  Jan.  7,  1688,  Lydia  Norton 
was  married  to  John  Lamb,  who  also  died  Sept.  28,  1690,  and  March 
i,  1692,  the  widow  Lydia  Lamb  was  married  to  George  Colton,  called 
Quartermaster  Colton,  the  father  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton,  who 
married  the  daughter  Hannah.  Quartermaster  Colton  died  Feb.  13, 
1699,  and  Lydia,  his  widow  died  Dec.  17,  1699. 

2d  Generation.  SAMUEL  BLISS  [page  10],  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Margaret  Bliss  \_page  9],  was  married  November  10,  1664,  to  Mary 
Leonard,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Leonard.  Their  children — 
Hannah,  born  Dec.  20,  1666.  Thomas,  born  Feb.  8,  1668.  Mary, 
born  Aug.  4,  1670.  Jonathan,  born  Jan.  5,  1672.  Martha,  born  June 
i,  1674.  Experience,  born  April  i,  1679,  died  April  7,  1697.  Mercy, 
born  July  18,  1680.  Ebenezer,  born  July  29,  1683,  died  Sept.  7,  1717. 
Margaret,  born  Sept.  n,  1684,  died  Jan.  19,  1736.  Esther,  born 
April  2,  1688.  The  sons  Thomas  and  Ebenezer  had  families  in 
Springfield.  By  Enfield  records  Jonathan  Bliss  was  married  March 
7,  1702,  to  Sarah  Eggleston,  and  it  is  supposed  that  he  settled  in  East 
Windsor.  Mary  was  married  Feb.  i,  1687,  to  Philip  Smith.  Martha 
was  married  Nov.  10,  1697,  to  Samuel  Ely.  Mercy  was  married  Dec. 
30,  1703,  to  John  Ely.  Margaret  was  married  Jan.  16,  1707,  to 
Samuel  Colton  {page  53].  Esther  was  married  May  10,  1716,  to 
Henry  Chapin,  of  Chicopee.  Samuel  Bliss,  the  father,  died  March 
23,  1720.  Mary,  his  widow,  died  Jan.  i,  1724.* 

2d  Generation.  JOHN  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  supposed  to  have  been 
the  son  of  Margaret  Bliss,  of  the  family  page  gth,  was  married  Oct. 
7,  1667,  to  Patience  Burt,  daughter  of  Henry  Burt  \_page  24].  Their 
children— John,  born-  Sept.  7,  1669.  Nathaniel,  born  Jan.  26,  1671. 
Thomas,  born  Oct.  29,  1673,  died  Aug.  12,  1758.  Joseph,  born  1676, 
died  March  i,  1754.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  16,  1678.  Henry,  born 
Aug.  15,  1681,  died  Nov.  30,  1684.  Ebenezer,  born  1683,  died'  Nov. 
4,  1761.  John  and  Nathaniel  married  in  Longmeadow,  removed  to 


8 

Enfield,  and  from  thence  to  Lebanon,  Conn.,  and  died  in  that  town. 
(The  families  of  Thomas  and  Ebenezer,  page  n).  Hannah,  the 
daughter,  was  married  to  Henry  Wright,  of  Chicopee,  May  24,  1705. 
John  Bliss,  the  father,  died  Sept.  10,  1702.  Patience  Bliss,  his  widow, 
died  Oct.  25,  1732,  in  her  87th  year. 

3d  Generation.  SAMUEL  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Catharine  Bliss,  was  married  Jan.  2,  1672,  to  Sarah  Stebbins, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Hannah  Stebbins  [page  196].  Their 
children — Samuel,  born  Aug.  10,  1677,  died  Aug.  31,  1692.  Nathaniel, 
born  Sept.  8,  1679,  died  March  12,  1751.  Sarah,  born  Oct.,  1681. 
Margaret,  born  Nov.  23,  1683.  Thomas,  born  Jan.  22,  1685,  died 
Sept.  4,  1767.  Hannah,  born  Aug.,  1687,  died  April  15,  1711.  John, 
born  Nov.  4,  1690,  died  Oct.  8,  1784.  Samuel,  born  April  25,  1694, 
died  Dec.  21,  1724.  Ebenezer,  born  March  4,  1696,  died  Aug.  29, 
1784.  Sarah  the  daughter  was  married  to  Nathaniel  Mighel,  of  West- 
field,  Jan.  15,  1702,  and  after  his  death  to  William  Nichols  April  23, 
1712.  Margeret  was  married  to  Benjamin  Cooley,  Jan.  31,  1701. 
Hannah  was  married  to  Ebenezer  Warner,  of  Springfield,  Jan.  9,  1707, 
and  had  one  son,  Samuel,  born  Oct.  3,  1708,  and  died  April  15,  1711. 
This  son  settled  in  Wilbraham  and  was  called  Clerk  Warner.  Sarah, 
the  mother,  died  Nov.  6,  1721.  Samuel  Bliss,  the  father,  died  June  19, 
1739,  in  his  io2d  year.  (The  families  of  the  four  sons  on  pages  n,  12, 
and  13.) 

3d  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BLISS  [page  11],  of  Longmeadow,  son 
of  Nathaniel  and  Catharine  Bliss  [page  9],  was  married  Dec.  28,  1676, 
to  Deborah  Colton,  daughter  of  George  and  Deborah  Colton  [page  48]. 
They  having  no  children  took  Joshua  Field,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah 
Field,  and  made  him  his  principal  heir.  This  Joshua  Field  was  the 
son  of  his  half  sister,  his  mother,  Samuel  Field's  wife,  being  the  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  Gilbert  and  Catharine,  who  was  the  mother  of  this 
Nathaniel  Bliss.  Nathaniel  Bliss  died  Dec.  23,  1736,  and  Deborah 
died  Nov.  26,  1733,  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  buried  on  the  east 
side  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton,  his  wife's  brother,  and  she  on  the  west 
side,  in  Longmeadow  burying-ground. 

3d  Generation.  THOMAS  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and 
Patience  Bliss  [page  10],  was  married  May  27,  1714,  to  Mary 
Macronny,  daughter  of  William  and  Margaret  Macronny.  She  was 
born  Nov.  2,  1690.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Dec.  4,  1715. 
Thomas,  born  May  30,  1719,  died  May  24,  1747.  Henry,  born  Dec. 
5,  1722.  Henry,  borft  Aug.  21,  1726,  died  Feb.  8,  1761.  Mary  the 
daughter  was  married  Feb.  3,  1736,  to  Nicholas  Holbrook.  Thomas 
was  married  to  Rachel  Parsons,  of  Northampton,  and  died  without 
issue,  and  his  widow  returned  to  her  native  town.  Thomas  Bliss,  the 
father,  died  Aug.  12,  1758.  Margaret,  his  widow,  died  March  30,  1761. 

3d  Generation.  EBENEZER  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and 
Patience  [page  10],  was  married  July  23,  1723,  to  Joanna  Lamb, 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Rebecca  Lamb.  She  was  born  June,  1695. 
Their  children — Joanna,  born  Dec.  10,  1723.  Ebenezer,  born  Dec.  7, 


1725.  Noah,  born  Jan.  12,  1728.  Rebecca,  born  Oct.  15,  1729. 
Stephen,  born  Feb.  26,  1732.  Joel,  born  June  18,  1734.  John,  born 
June  6,  1736.  Eunice,  born  June  25,  1739.  (The  families  of  the  sons, 
see  in  pages  13  and  14).  Joanna  was  married  Sept.  23,  1773,  to 
Deacon  Nehemiah  Estabrook,  of  Lebanon,  N.  H.  Rebecca  was 
married  May  12,  1774,  to  Eli  Cooley  \J>age  104].  Eunice  was  mar- 
ried Feb.  22,  1775,  to  Aaron  Day,  of  West  Springfield.  Ebenezer 
Bliss,  the  father,  died  Nov.  4,  1761.  Joanna,  his  widow,  died  May  18, 
1768. 

4th  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Sarah  Bliss  \J>age  10],  was  married  Jan.  20,  1704,  to  Mary 
Morgan,  daughter  of  David  and  Mary  Morgan.  She  was  born  Dec. 
24,  1686.  Their  children — Nathaniel,  born  Oct.  26,  1704,  died  Nov. 
23,  1771.  Mary,  born  Sept.  n,  1706,  died  Jan.  17,  1725.  Mercy, 
born  April  24,  1709.  Hannah,  born  May  26,  1711,  died  July  19,  1712. 
Hannah,  born  Oct.  i,  1713,  died  July  3,  1800.  Pelatiah,  born  March 
4,  1717,  died  Oct.  24,  1789.  Bathsheba,  born  Aug.  30,  1722,  died 
Feb.  15,  1794.  Mary,  born  July  31,  1725,  died  Aug.  2,  1725.  Abner, 
born  Aug.  19,  1726,  died  April  20,  1782  [page  12].  (The  families 
of  the  sons,  seepage  15).  Hannah  was  married  to  Jonathan  Day,  Jan. 
8,  1733.  Bathsheba  was  married  April  23,  1742,  to  Samuel  Nichols, 
of  Brimfield.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  22, 1739.  Nathaniel  Bliss, 
the  father,  was  married  again  Dec.  6,  1742,  to  Mary  Cooley,  the  widow 
of  Joseph  Cooley,  of  Somers  [page  94],  and  died  March  12,  1751. 
Mary,  his  last  wife,  died  April  2,  1773.  She  was  born  Sept.  3,  1694. 

4th  Generation.  THOMAS  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Sarah  Bliss  [page  10],  was  married  Nov.  2,  1710,  to  Sarah  Dorchester, 
daughter  of  James  and  Sarah  Dorchester.  Their  children — Sarah, 
born  Dec.  10, 1711.  Margaret,  born  Aug.  3,  1715,  died  June  16, 1744. 
Miriam,  born  Sept.  27,  1717,  died  Nov..  26,  1789.  Jemima,  born  May 
15,  1720.  Ann,  born  April  24,  1722,  died  May  2,  1772.  Mary,  born 
Sept.  30,  1728,  died  April  6,  1804.  Sarah  the  daughter  was  married 
to  Stephen  Stebbins,  Oct.  9,  1733  \_page  200].  Miriam  was  married 
Feb.  i,  1737,  to  Noah  Hale  [page  139].  Margaret  was  married  to 
Jonathan  Stebbins,  Dec.  n,  1735.  Jemima  was  married  to  William 
King,  of  Wilbraham.  Ann  and  Mary  died  unmarried.  Sarah  the 
mother,  died  Sept.  16,  1745.  Thomas  Bliss,  the  father,  was  married 
again  Nov.  6,  1746,  to  Mehitable  Lumbard,  the  widow  of  David 
Lumbard,  of  Brimfield,  and  he  died  Sept.  4,  1767,  and  his  widow  died 
July  28,  1780. 

4th  Generation.  JOHN  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Sarah  Bliss  [page  10],  was  married  to  Lydia  Field,  of  Sunderland. 
Their  children — John,  born  Feb.  i,  1727,  died  Nov.  3,  1809.  Aaron, 
born  May  3,  1730,  died  Feb.  i,  1810.  Lydia,  the  mother,  died  Feb. 
29,  1760,  aged  65.  John  Bliss,  the  father,  died  Oct.  8,  1784,  aged  94 
years  nearly.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  seepage  16). 

4th  Generation.  SAMUEL  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Sarah  Bliss,  was  married  Dec.  4,  1713,  to  Elisabeth  Warriner,  sup- 


IO 

posed  to  have  been  daughter  of  Joseph  Warriner,  who  was  the  son  of 
William  Warriner,  of  Springfield.  Their  children — Abigail,  born  1714. 
Josiah,  born  Oct.  8,  1716,  died  Oct.  27,  1716.  Esthej:,  born  Nov.  22, 
1717,  died  April  30,  1718.  Esther,  born  June  8,  1719.  Elisabeth. 
Abigail,  the  daughter,  was  married  to  John  Charles,  of  Brimfield. 
Elisabeth  was  married  Nov.  22,  1739,  to  Seth  Chapin,  of  Somers. 
Samuel  Bliss,  the  father,  was  in  a  state  of  distraction  some  years  before 
his  death  and  died  in  that  state  Dec.  21,  1724.  Elisabeth,  the  widow, 
was  married  Nov.  12,  1729,  to  John  Pease,  of  Enfield.  Joshua  Field 
\.PaSe  TI]  was  tne  son  °f  Samuel  Field,  and  his  wife  was  the 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Catharine  Gilbert. 

4th  Generation.  EBENEZER  BLISS  [page  13],  of  Longmeadow, 
son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Bliss  [page  10],  was  married  Jan.  29,  1719, 
to  Sarah  Colton,  daughter  of  Ephraim  arid  Esther  Colton  [page  49]. 
Their  children — Catharine,  born  Jan.  24,  1720,  died  May  10,  1805. 
Esther,  born  June  26,  1721,  died  Jan.  1793.  Ebenezer,  born  Nov.  25, 
1722,  died  Jan.  24,  1723.  Ebenezer,  born  April  7,  1724,  died  Oct.  20, 
1787.  Josiah,  born  Aug.  17,  1725,  died  Feb.  1805.  Isaac,  born  Jan. 
28,  1727,  died  Oct.  1809.  Sarah,  born  March  u,  1730,  died  April  7, 
1733.  Ruth,  born  Jan.  16,  1732.  Samuel,  born  April  2,  1734. 
Sarah,  born  March  i,  1736.  Catharine,  died  unmarried.  Esther  was 
married  July  26,  1759,  to  Daniel  Chandler,  of  Enfield,  and  left  no 
issue.  Josiah  was  married  to  Sarah  Frost  and  settled  in  Monson  and 
left  children.  Isaac  married  Hannah  Hubbard  and  settled  in  Wes- 
tern and  left  children.  Ruth  was  married  Nov.  6,  1733,  to  Samuel 
Warriner,  of  Wilbraham.  Sarah  was  married  Nov.  18,  1762,  to  John 
Rumrill  [page  190].  Samuel  was  married  to  Abigail  Rumrill,  alias 
Weld;  they  had  a  family  in  Longmeadow,  and  removed  to  Vershire,  she 
dying  on  the  road.  (The  family  of  Ebenezer,  seepage  16.)  Ebenezer, 
the  father,  died  Aug.  29,  1784,  and  Sarah,  his  wife,  died  Jan.  14,  1780, 
both  being  88  years  old,  he  a  little  more  and  she  somewhat  less. 

4th  Generation.  HENRY  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Thomas 
and  Mary  Bliss  [page  1 1],  was  married  to  Rubie  Brewster,  of  Lebanon 
in  Connecticut,  date  of  their  publishment  Dec.  22,  1749.  Their 
children — Thomas,  born  Dec.  7,  1750,  died  Jan.  3,  1751.  Solomon, 
born  Nov.  8,  1751.  Calvin,  born  May  14,  1754.  Henry,  born  June  7, 
1757.  Hulda,  born  July  2,  1759.  Henry  Bliss,  the  father,  died  Feb. 
7,  1761.  After  the  death  of  the  father  his  widow,  with  her  children, 
removed  to  the  Town  of  Banardston  in  the  County  of  Hampshire. 

4th  Generation.  EBENEZER  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer 
and  Joanna  Bliss  [page  n],  was  married  1752,  to  Mary  Booth,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Lydia  Booth,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — Mary,  born 
Feb.  26,  1753.  Lucy,  born  Jan.  29,  1755.  Noah,  born  March  9, 
1757.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  i,  1757.  Ebenezer  Bliss,  the 
father,  was  married  again  Aug.  27,  1760,  to  Abigail  Cooley,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  Cooley,  of  Somers  [page  98].  Their  children — 
Gains,  born  May  17,  1761,  died  Dec.  24,  1843,  age  82.  Gad,  born 
July  29,  1762,  died  Nov.  21,  1845,  aSe  ^3-  Naomy,  born  Feb.  i,  1764. 


II 


Enos,  born  Nov.  25,  1765.  Abigail,  born  May  27,  1769,  died  Aug. 
13,  1842,  age  73.  Anne,  born  July  14,  1771,  died  June  2,  1834,  age 
63.  Deborah,  bornjuly  14,  1771.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  Oct.  6, 
1787.  Ebenezer  Bliss,  the  father,  was  married  again  1790,  to  Hannah 
Alvord,  of  Wilbraham,  daughter  of  Noah  and  Hannah  Alvord.  She 
was  born  March  5,  1728.  Mary,  the  daughter,  was  married  Dec.  6, 
1786,  to  John  Ashley,  of  Springfield.  Lucy  was  married  to  Doctor 
Joseph  Clark,  Aug.  1776.  Abigail  was  married  [page  14]  June  13, 
1793,  to  Asa  Colton,  son  of  Asa  and  Sarah  Colton  [pages  70  and 'j'jL 
Anne  was  married  Jan.  30,  1800,  to  Samuel  Keep  [page  160],  Naomy 
was  married  Feb.  5,  1789,  to  John  Robinson,  of  Granville.  Deborah 
was  married  June  9,  1802,  to  Benjamin  Cook,  of  East  Windsor. 
Ebenezer  Bliss,  the  father,  died  March  2,  1808,  in  his  83d  year. 
Hannah  Bliss  died  May  8,  1810.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  seepages 
17  and  18.) 

4th  Generation.  STEPHEN  BLISS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Ebenezer 
and  Joanna  Bliss,  was  married  June  10,  1756,  to  Catharine  Burt. 
Their  children — Catharine,  born  Aug.  15,  1757.  Mercy,  born  June 
24,  1759.  Stephen,  born  July  2,  1761.  Susannah,  born  March  21, 

1764.  Gideon,  born  May   12,  1766.     Cloe,  born ,  died  Oct.  2, 

1776.     Stephen  Bliss,  the  father,  died  Feb.  13,  1806. 

4th  Generation.  JOEL  BLISS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Joanna  and 
Ebenezer  Bliss,  was  married  to  Sarah  Kilborn,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Sarah  Kilborn,  published  Aug.  12,  1761.  Their  children — Sarah, 
born  May  13,  1762.  Daniel,  born  Oct.  4,  1763.  Obed,  born  Jan.  3, 

1765.  Jesse,   born    Feb.   21,    1768.     Betsey,   born    July    n,    1770. 
Lorice,  born  Oct.  9,  1772.     Violet,  born  April,  1774.     Joel,  born  Oct. 
i,    1776.     Daniel,  born   May   12,    1779.     Patty,  born   Nov.  2,    1780. 
Jeremy.     Sarah,  the  mother,  died  — .     Joel  Bliss,  the  father,  died  — . 

4th  Generation.  REV.  JOHN  BLISS,  of  Ellington,  son  of  Ebenezer 
and  Joanna  Bliss,  was  graduated  at  New  Haven  1761,  was  ordained 

Nov.  9,  1765,  and  was  married  to White,  daughter  of  Capt.  Joel 

White  of  Bolton.  Their  children — John,  lived  and  died  at  Tolland, 
Ct.  Betsey.  Achsa.  Joel  White.  Hosea.  Daniel.  Rev.  John  Bliss 
died  1790.  (See  catalogue  of  Yale  College.) 

5th  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BLISS  \page  15],  of  Wilbraham,  son 
of  Nathaniel  and  Mary  Bliss,  was  married  Sept.  25,  1733,  to  Priscilla 
Burt,  daughter  of  David  and  Martha  Burt.  Their  children — Mary, 
born  Nov.  21,  1734.  Martha,  born  May  10,  1739.  Nathaniel,  born 
Nov.  26,  1741,  died  Nov.  5,  1782.  David,  born  April  4,  1745. 
Jonathan,  born  April  4,  1745.  Thomas,  born  Nov.  25,  1747.  Mary 
was  married  to  Comfort  Chaffee,  Jan.  19,  1758.  Nathaniel  Bliss,  the 
father,  died  Nov.  23,  1771.  His  wife  died  April  12,  1769. 

5th  Generation.  PELATIAH  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Mary  Bliss,  was  married  to  Sarah  Comfort,  of  Brimfield,  the  date 
of  their  publishment  Sept.  24,  1743.  Their  children — Sarah^  born 
July  22,  1744,  died  Dec.  23,  1745.  Mercy,  born  Nov.  15,  1745',  died 
Dec.  17,  1745.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  17, 1745.  Pelatiah  Bliss 


12 

was  married  again  Dec.  i,  1748,  to  Jemima  Hitchcock,  daughter  of 
David  and  Mary  Hitchcock,  of  Monson.  She  was  born  May  14,  1729. 
Their  children — Jemima,  born  Sept.  24,  1749,  died  May  15,  1787. 
Sarah,  born  Oct.  23,  1751,  died  Sept.  26,  1754.  Lucy,  born  Oct.  13, 
1753,  died  Aug.  19,  1754.  Zadock,  born  July  3,  1755,  died  Dec.  7, 
1813,  age  58.  Mercy,  born  March  22,  1757,  died  June  28,  1787. 
Jonathan,  born  March  22,  1757,  died  April  5,  1759.  Lucy,  born  June 
30,  1760.  David,  born  July  i,  1762,  died  May  7,  1815.  Simeon, 
born  Dec.  8,  1764.  Tabitha,  born  April  n,  1767,  died  Oct.  1794. 
Submit,  born  Feb.  22,  1770.  Jemima,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan. 
27,  1774,  to  Joseph  Bumstead,  of  Wilbraham.  Lucy  was  married 
Nov.  30,  1788,  to  Asa  Baldwin,  of  Vershire.  Pelatiah  Bliss  the  father 
died  Oct.  24,  1789.  Jemima,  his  widow,  was  married  May  19,  1794,  to 
Capt.  Samuel  Nichols,  of  Brimfield,  who  died  Aug.  10,  1806,  and  she 
died  Feb.,  1811.  (The  family  of  Zadock,  seepage  19.) 

5th  Generation.  ABNER  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Mary  Bliss,  was  married  June  28,  1749,  to  Sarah  Cooley,  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Mary  Cooley.  Their  children — Abner,  born  Feb. 
i,  1750,  died  March  31,  1750.  Cloe,  born  May  10,  1751.  Nathaniel, 
born  Jan.  6,  1753.  Mary,  born  April  18,  1754,  died  Aug.  4,  1777. 
Sarah,  born  Jan.  6,  1756,  died  Sept.  5,  1757.  Sarah,  born  Nov.  13, 
1757.  Bathsheba,  born  Jan.  13,  1760,  died  Feb.  24,  1832,  age  72. 
Mamre,  born  May  26,  1765.  Cloe  was  married  to  Capt.  Asahel 
Cooley,  of  Wallingford.  Sarah  was  married  to Tuttle,  of  Wal- 
lingford. Mamre  was  married  to  Abel  Cook,  of  Wallingford.  Abner 
Bliss,  the  father,  died  April  20,  1782.  Sarah,  his  widow,  died  Aug.  9, 
1794.  (The  family  of  Nathaniel,  see  page  18.) 

5th  Generation.  COLONEL  JOHN  BLISS  [page  16],  of  Wilbraham,  son 
of  John  and  Lydia  Bliss,  was  married  Nov.  8,  1749,  to  Abiel  Colton, 
daughter  of  Josiah  and  Margaret  Colton.  Their  children — Oliver, 
born  Sept.  15,  1750,  died  Jan.  13,  1757.  Lydia,  born  March  10,  1752, 
died  March  29,  1755.  Lydia,  born  Jan.  19,  1756.  Abiel,  born  June 
i,  1758.  Lucy,  born  Marph  4,  1761,  died  March  31,  1761.  Lucy, 
born  March  28,  1762.  Abiel,  the  daughter,  was  married  March  13, 
1777,  to  Josiah  Cooley  [page  io8j.  Lydia  was  married  to  the  Rev. 
Moses  Warrin,  of  Wilbraham.  Lucy  was  married  to  Edward  Morris, 

of  Wilbraham.     Abiel,  the  mother,  died .    Colonel  John  Bliss,  the 

father,  was  married  to  Sarah  Morris,  widow  of  Isaac  Morris,  and  he 
died  Nov.  3,  1809,  in  his  830!  year. 

5th  Generation.  AARON  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and 
Lydia  Bliss,  was  married  April  23,  1754,  to  Miram  Colton,  daughter 
of  William  and  Mary  Colton.  Their  children — Aaron,  born  Sept.  i, 
1754,  died  June  25,  1776.  Moses,  born  June  14,  1757,  died  June  17, 
1757.  Miriam,  born  June  20,  1758,  died  July  8,  1831.  Hannah,  born 
Feb.  21,  1761,  died  April  6,  1822.  Margaret,  born  May  10,  1764, 
died  Oct.  15,  1831.  John,  born  Nov.  22,  1766.  Eunice,  born  Jan. 
6,  1770,  died  July  30,  1830.  Oliver,  born  Feb.  22,  1773,  died  Aug.  13, 
1840.  Miriam  was  married  July  10,  1799,  to  Lieut.  Hezekiah  Hale. 


13 

Hannah  was  married  July  24,  1788,  to  Thomas  Colton  [page  71]. 
Margaret  was  married  March  28,  1799,  to  Ezra  Stebbins  [page  203]! 
Miriam,  the  mother,  died  May  22,  1805.  Aaron  Bliss,  the  father,  died 
Feb.  i,  1810. 

5th  Generation.  EBENEZER  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer 
and  Sarah  Bliss  [page  13],  was  married  Oct.  18,  1749,  to  Sarah  Cooley, 
daughter  of  Daniel  and  Jemima  Cooley  [see  page  96].  Their  chil- 
dren—  Asahal,  born  Feb.  5,  1750,  died  May  n,  1777.  Nathan,  born 
Sept.  27,  1752!  Eli,  born  Oct.  15,  1754.  Ebenezer,  born  1756.  Gad, 
born  Dec.  3,  1758.  Esther.  Phebe.  Elisabeth.  Abijah,  born  June 
14,  1766.  Daniel,  born  Dec.  27,  1769.  Phebe  was  married  Feb.  10. 

1789,  to  Josiah  Moulton,  of  Hatfield.     Elisabeth  was  married  April 
12,  1792,  to  Levi  Rumrill  [page  191].     See  the  family  of  Asahel  [page 
19].     The  most  of  the  children  being  settled  in  remote  parts  of  the 
country,  their  families  are  unknown.     Ebenezer  Bliss,  the  father,  died 
Oct.  20,  1787.     Sarah,  his  widow,  died  March  3,  1795. 

5th  Generation.  NOAH  BLISS  [page  17],  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Ebenezer  and  Mary  Bliss,  was  married  Feb.  n,  1784,  to  Abigail 
Cooley,  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Mary  Cooley  [see  page  ioi].  Their 
children  —  Calvin,  born  Dec.  n,  1784.  Walter,  born  May  21,  1-791, 
died  Sept.  15,  1793.  Walter,  born  July  4,  1796.  James,  born  June  4, 
1797.  Noah  Bliss,  the  father,  died  Dec.  6,  1816,  born  March  9,  1757, 
age  57  years.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  April  9,  1826,  age  67  years. 

5th  Generation.  GAINS  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer 
and  Abigail  Bliss,  was  married  Oct.  2,  1787,  to  Eunice  Robinson, 
daughter  of  Noah  and  Hannah  Robinson,  of  Granville.  Their  chil- 
dren were  —  Chauncy,  born  Feb.  16,  1789.  Orpha,  born  Oct.  19, 

1790.  Naomy,  born   July   26,   1792.     Eunice,  born    Dec.  27,   1793. 
Ebenezer,  born  June  5,  1795.     Died  March  21,  1868.     Hannah,  born 
June  10,  1797.     Gains,  born  April  9,  1800,  died  Nov.  16,  1814,  killed 
by  a  bull.     Eunice,  the  mother,  died  March  26,  1803.     Gains  Bliss 
was  married  again  Jan.  19,  1804,  to  Flavia  Keep,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Sabina  Keep.     Their  children  —  Flavia,  born  Dec.  10,  1804,  died 
March  6,  1818,  age  14.    Emily,  born  May  15,  1807.     Cloe  Lewis,  born 
Oct.  17,  1809.     Simeon   Cooley,  born   March   12,  1812,  died  May  5, 
1838.     Flavia,  the  mother,  died  Sept.  19,  1829,  age  61.     Gains  Bliss 
died  Dec.  24,  1843,  age  82  years. 

5th  Generation.  GAD  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer  and 
Abigail  Bliss  [page  13],  was  married  Nov.  20,  1800,  to  Deborah 
Olcott,  daughter  of  Deacon  Benoni  Olcott,  of  East  Windsor.  Their 
children  —  Hannah  A.,  born  Dec.  21,  1801.  Gad  Olcott,  born  March 
i,  1807.  Deborah,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  n,  1816.  Gad,  the  father, 
died  Nov.  21,  1845,  age  83.  Hannah  A.,  married  Rev.  Dorus  Clark. 
Gad  Olcott,  married  Harriet  Cooley,  May  21,  1828.  Their  children 
—  Ellen  Elisa,  born  Jan.  4,  1832,  died  June  n,  1833.  Ellen  Elis?, 
born  May  20,  1834.  Harriet  Olcott,  born  Sept.  8,  1838,  died  Nov. 
26,  1844.  Ellen  Elisa,  married  John  Hooker,  Oct.  2,  1855. 

5th  Generation.     REV.  ENOS  BLISS  [page  18],  son  of  Ebenezer  and 


14 

Abigail  Bliss,  was  married  Feb.  10,  1793,  to  Nabby  Newton,  daughter 
of  Christopher  and  Mary  Newton,  of  Newport,  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. Their  children  —  Nabby,  born  March  17,  1794.  Florella, 
born  Jan.  15,  1796.  Alarson,  born  April  17,  1798.  Nabby,  the 
mother,  died  March  22,  1800.  The  Rev.  Enos  Bliss,  was  married 
again  March  n,  1801,  to  Betsey  Bread,  daughter  of  David  and  Betsey 
Bread,  of  Norwich,  Conn.  Their  children  —  Sally,  born  Oct.  3,  1802. 
Betsey  Clement,  born  Aug. '18,  1804.  Sally  Cleveland,  born  June  12, 
1806.  The  Rev.  Enos  Bliss,  was  graduated  at  New  Haven,  1787,  was 
ordained  at  Brandon,  in  Vermont,  Oct.  1792,  and  was  dismissed  Oct. 
1794;  he  preached  in  Cornwall  in  that  State  more  than  one  year,  and 
in  New  Haven,  in  said  State,  more  than  two  years ;  he  was  installed 
over  a  church  in  Orange,  Oct.  1799,  and  dismissed  from  that  church 
July  1803.  He  removed  to  Piermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  continued 
in  the  ministry  in  that  place  more  than  two  years.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1806,  he  left  Piermont.  His  first  child  was  born  in  Bran- 
don, his  second  in  Cornwall,  his  third  in  New  Haven,  his  fourth  in 
Orange,  his  fifth  in  Piermont,  and  his  sixth  in  East  Windsor,  Conn. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1807,  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Black  River,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

6th  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Abner 
and  Sarah  Bliss  [page  15],  was  married  Nov.  25,  1779,  to  Martha 
Collins,  daughter  of  Deacon  Edward  and  Rebecca  Collins,  of  Enfield. 
He  died  June  29,  1835.  Their  children — Patty,  born  July  20,  1780. 
Mary,  born  May  14,  1782,  died  Aug.  26,  1783.  Mary,  born  Sept.  18, 
1784,  died  June  26,  1794.  Mamre,  born  Aug.  25,  1789,  died  Oct.  24, 
1791.  Mamre,  born  Feb.  21,  1792,  died  July  4,  1794.  Rebecca,  born 
Nov.  29,  1786,  died  June  24,  1794.  Nathaniel,  born  Nov.  5,  1794, 
died  July  14,  1845,  age  51.  Abner,  born  Sept.  16,  1796,  died  July 
17,  1798.  Rebecca,  born  April  29,  1799,  died  Sept.  15,  1800.  Sam- 
uel Warriner,  born  Nov.  26,  1801.  Patty,  the  daughter,  was  married 
Dec.  19,  1802,  to  Horris  Burt  [see  page  32]. 

6th  Generation.  ZADOCK  BLISS  [page  19],  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Pelatiah  and  Jemima  Bliss,  was  married  May  14,  1786,  to  Sarah  Cush- 
man,  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Thankful  Cushman,  of  Stafford.  Their 
children  —  Zadock,  born  Feb.  26,  1788.  Artemus,  born  Oct.  13, 1790. 
Asahel,  born  Jan.  3,  1793.  Sarah,  born  Oct.  8,  1795,  died  July  7, 
1800.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  July  14,  1800.  Zadock  Bliss,  the 
father,  died  Dec.  17,  1813. 

6th  Generation.  ASAHEL  BLISS,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah  Bliss 
\  page  1 6],  was  married  June  10,  1773,  to  Mary  Chandler,  daughter  of 
Stephen  and  Mary  Chandler  [see  page  45].  Their  children  —  Still 
born,  March,  1774.  M#ry,  born  April  14,  1775.  Anne,  born  April 
T5>  T777-  Asahel  Bliss,  the  father,  was  blown  up  in  a  powder-mill  at 
Springfield,  May  7,  1777,  and  died  May  n,  1777.  Mary,  the  mother, 
was  married  again  Sept.  3,  1781,  to  Ebenezer  Rumrill  [see  page  191], 
and  she  died  Aug.  16,  1810.  Mary,  the  daughter,  was  married  April 
25,  1796,  to  Abraham  Besse,  of  Bridgewater.  Anne,  was  married  to 
Peter  Pease,  Aug.  28,  1794  \_page  179]. 


15 

6th  Generation.  CALVIN  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Noah  and 
Abigail  Bliss,  was  married  Jan.  n,  1809,  to  Lucy  Colton,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Hannah  Colton.  He  died  Feb.  24,  1862.  She  died 
May  14,  1862.  Their  children  —  Aaron,  born  Jan.  6,  1810.  Abigail 
Cooley,  born  Sept.  2,  1811. 

6th  Generation.  JAMES  BLISS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Noah  and 
Abigail  Bliss  [page  17],  was  married  May  14,  1819,  to  Eunice  Chand- 
ler, daughter  of  Abner  and  Eunice  Chandler  [see  page  47].  Their 
children  —  Sylvester,  born  Sept.  7,  1820.  Louisa,  born  Dec.  2,  1823. 
Jerucha,  born  Dec.  23,  1825.  Cordelia,  born  June  14,  1829.  Maria 
Robinson,  born  July  12,  1831,  died  Dec.  i,  1861.  Harriet  Sophia, 
born  Sept.  2,  1833.  Eunice  Eliza,  born  Dec.  9,  1840.  James,  the 
father,  died  Jan.  15,  1864. 

7th  Generation.  SYLVESTER  BLISS  \_page  20],  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
James  and  Eunice  Bliss,  was  married  Sept.  27,  1848,  to  Nancy  Catha- 
rine, daughter  of  Daniel  and  Nancy  Warner,  of  East  Haddam,  Conn. 
Their  children  —  Hannah  Brainard,  born  July  17,  1849.  Manila 
Chandler,  born  May  6,  1853.  James,  born  May  29,  1857.  Hattie 
Maria,  born  March  22,  1862.  Nancy  Catharine,  the  wife,  was  born 
Jan.  24,  1819. 

JOSEPH  BOOTH  [page  21],  of  Enfield,  son  of  Zachery  Booth,  was 
married  to  Sarah  Chandler,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Lydia  Chandler, 
Jan.  29,  1736  [see  page  ^2],  Their  children  — Joseph,  born  Oct.  17, 
1736,  died  Feb.  4,  1810.  Sarah,  born  May  14,  1738,  died  May  14, 
1738.  Isaac,  born  March  9,  1739,  died  Jan.  13,  1798.  Samuel,  born 
Aug.  28,  1740,  died  Jan.  14,  1778,  age  38.  Zacheriah,  born  March 
29,  1742,  died  Jan.  18,  1819,  age  77.  Sarah,  born  Dec.  i,  1743,  died 
July  27,  1800,  age  57.  Henry,  born  Nov.  17,  1745,  died  March  i, 
1792.  David,  born  July  22,  1747,  died  young.  Mehittable,  born  March 
6,  1749,  died  Sept.  21,  1823,  age  74.  Joseph  Booth,  the  father,  died 
Nov.  9,  1784.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  16,  1777. 

CAPT.  JOSEPH  BOOTH,  of  Enfield,  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Booth 
above,  was  married  Oct.  21,  1762,  to  Mary  Hale,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Hale,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Sept.  10,  1763, 
died  July  26,  1841.  David,  born  March  2,  1765,  died  April  12,  1827. 
Annis,  born  Oct.  i,  1766,  died  Jan.  8,  1847.  Lydia,  born  Aug.  12, 
1768,  died  July  25,  1838.  Joseph,  born  Aug.  30,  1770,  died  Sept.  9, 
1849.  Peter,  born  July  27,  1772,  died  March  5,  1805.  Eliphael, 
born  April  26,  1774,  died  Oct.  29,  1845.  Independence,  born  July 
14,  1776,  died  Nov.  14,  1828.  Hannah,  born  Dec.  7,  1778,  died  Oct. 
14,  1802.  Mary  was  married  to  Capt.  Israel  Chapin,  of  Springfield, 
March  14,  1800.  He  died  April  25,  1810,  and  Mary,  his  widow,  was 
married  to  Dea.  Stephen  Jones,  of  Ludlow,  Sept.  25,  1812.  Annis 
was  married  to  Edmund  Evarts,  Oct.  9,  1796  [see  page  128].  Lydia 
was  married  Oct.  4,  1797,  to  Lieut.  Henry  Colton  [seepage  73].  Inde- 
pendence was  married  to  Danforth  Charter,  Aug.  28,  1802.  (The 
families  of  the  sons,  see  pages  21  and  22).  Capt.  Joseph  Booth,  the 
father,  died  Feb.  4,  1810.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  March  n,  1809. 


i6 

HENRY  BOOTH,  of  Enfield,  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Booth  in  the 
family  above,  was  married  to  Dorothy  Fish,  of  East  Windsor,  Nov.  2, 
1768.  Their  children — Sharon,  born  Dec.  28,  1771.  Dorothy,  born 
Jan.  12,  1774.  Abi,  born  Dec.  6,  1778.  Sarah,  born  Dec.  5,  1780. 
Eneas,  born  Nov.  15,  1783.  Henry  Booth,  the  father,  died  March  i, 

1792.  Dorothy,  the  mother,  was  married  to  Elijah  Burt,  Oct.  31, 

1793.  Sarah  was  married  Dec.  19,  1799,  to  Hanon  Cooley  [see  page 
107]. 

DAVID  BOOTH,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Capt.  Joseph  and  Mary  Booth 
above,  was  married  Sept.  n,  1794,  to  Margaret  Colton,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Lucy  Colton.  Their  children — David,  born  Dec.  10,  1796. 
Lucy,  born  Dec.  n,  1798.  Peggy,  born  Oct.  3,  1800.  Joseph,  born  Oct. 
19, 1802,  died  Sept.,  1867,  at  Warsaw,  Iowa.  Flavia,  born,  Dec.  23, 1804. 
Mary,  born  Sept.  8,  1807.  Sarah,  born  Dec.  17,  1809.  Samuel  Colton, 
born  May  6,  1812  \_page  22].  Margaret,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  7, 
1817.  David,  the  father,  married  Peggy  Burt,  May  27,  1817.  Joseph 
Booth  was  married  Jan.  22,  1829,  to  Sophronia  Colton.  Flavia  Booth 
was  married  Dec.  16,  1828,  to  Amasa  Converse.  Margaret  Booth  was 
married  April  19,  1830,  to  Francis  Bartlett.  Samuel  C.  Booth  mar- 
ried Nov.  20,  1833,  to  Maryann  Allard.  Sarah  Booth  married  Sept. 
23,  1834,  to  Jonathan  Coble.  Mary  Booth  married  Oct.  21,  1849,  to 
Paul  A.  Haralson,  Stone  Mountain,  Ga.  Margaret  Booth,  the 
mother,  died  Jan.  7,  1817.  David  Booth,  the  father,  was  married  to 
Peggy  Burt,  daughter  of  .Elijah  Burt.  David  Booth  died  April  12, 
1827,  aged  62.  Peggy  Booth  died  Feb.  23,  1837,  aged  69. 

PETER  BOOTH,  son  of  Capt.  Joseph  and  Mary  Booth  [page  21],  was 
married  Oct.  10,  1797,  to  Patty  Eyre,  daughter  of  Thomas  Eyre,  of 
Enfield.  Their  children  were — William,  born  June  9,  1798.  Henry, 
born  Aug.  26,  1800.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  n,  1803.  Danforth 
Charles,  born  Jan.  15,  1807.  Edmund,  born  Aug.  24,  1810.  Peter, 
the  father,  died  March  5,  1815.  Martha,  born  June  23,  1815. 

ELIPHAEL  BOOTH,  of  Enfield,  son  of  Capt.  Joseph  and  Mary  Booth, 
was  married  March  3,  1802,  to  Loice  Colton,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Mary  Colton  \_page  63].  Their  children  were — Harmon,  born  Feb. 
13,  1803,  died  Feb.  27,  1845.  Hannah,  born  April  15, 1805.  Calvin, 
born  July  8,  1807.  Loice,  born  'Sept.  19,  1809,  died  Oct.  20,  1848. 
George,  born  Jan.  u,  1812.  Edwin,  born  May  12,  1814.  [Vacant  to 
page  24.] 

ist  Generation.  HENRY  BURT,  of  Springfield,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  ancestor  of  all  his  name  who  originated  in  that  town.  His 
wife's  name  was  Ulalia.  The  greater  part  of  his  children  were  born 
before  his  coming  hither.  Jonathan  and  Nathaniel  were  the  names 
of  his'sons.  The  names  of  his  daughters  recorded  as  born  in  Spring- 
field were — Hannah,  born  April  28,  1641.  One  daughter,  name 
defaced  on  record,  born  1643.  Patience,  born  Aug.  18,  1645.  Mercy, 
born  Sept.  27,  1647.  Hannah  was  married  Dec.  24,  1757,  to  John 
Bag.  Patience  was  married  Oct.  7,  1667,  to  John  Bliss.  There  were 
other  women  by  the  name  of  Burt  who  probably  were  the  daughters 


17 

of  Henry  Burt.  Sarah  Burt,  married  to  Juda  Gregory,  June  20,  1643. 
Elisabeth,  married  to  Samuel  Wright,  Nov.  24,  1653.  Mary,  married 
to  William  Brooks,  Oct.  8,  1654.  Dorcas,  married  to  John  Stiles, 
Oct.  28,  1657.  Henry  Burt,  called  clerk  of  the  writs,  died  April  30, 
1662.  Ulalia,  his  widow,  died  Aug.  19,  1690.  By  the  records  of 
deeds  it  appears  in  the  settlement  of  the  estate  of  Henry  Burt,  after 
his  decease,  that  Jonathan  and  Nathaniel  were  his  sons.  By  North- 
ampton records,  David  Burt  had  a  family  among  the  first  families  in 
that  town.  His- relation  to  Springfield  Burts  is  not  known. 

ad  Generation.  DEA.  JONATHAN  BURT,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Henry  Burt  above,  was  married  Oct.  20,  1651,  to  Elisabeth  Lobdel. 
His  children  as  recorded  were — Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  29,  1652. 
Jonathan,  born  Sept.  12,  1654.  Sarah,  born  Sept.  4,  1656.  John, 
born  Dec.  n,  1663.  Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  n,  1684. 
Dea.  Jonathan  Burt  was  married  Dec.  14,  1686,  to  Deliverance  Han- 
chet.  He  was  deacon  of  the  first  church  in  Springfield,  and  town 
clerk  for  the  years  1697,  1698,  1699,  and  1700.  He  left  on  public 
record  some  account  of  the  destruction  of  Springfield  by  fire,  1675. 
He  died  Oct.  19,  1715.  Elisabeth,  his  daughter,  was  married  to  Vic- 
tory Sikes,  Jan.  29,  1673.  Sarah  was  married  to  Benjamin  Dorches- 
ter, April  22,  1675.  By  him  she  had  one  child.  Benjamin,  her  hus- 
band, died  May  29,  1676.  She  was  married  again,  Feb.  14,  1677, 
to  Luke  Hitchcock,  Esq.,  and  had  by  him  eleven  children. 

2d  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Henry 
and  Ulalia  Burt  above,  was  married  Jan.  15,  1662,  to  Rebecca  Sikes, 
probably  the  daughter  of  Richard  Sikes.  Their  children — Nathaniel, 
born  Jan.  18,  1663,  died  July  19,  1749.  Rebecca,  born  Dec.  10, 1665, 
died  Feb.  12,  1692.  David,  born  —  — ,  1668,  died  July  5,  1735. 
John,  born  Aug.  23,  1670,  died  Feb.  24,  1704.  Sarah,  born  July  17, 
1673,  died  July  31,  1673.  Sarah,  born  April,  1675.  Experience, 
born  Jan.  23,  1677,  died  Sept.  12,  1719.  Dorcas,  born  Feb.  TO,  1680, 
died  Oct.  21,  1770  [page  25].  Sarah  was  married  Feb.  8,  1693,  to  Nath- 
aniel Horton.  They  settled  in  Somers.  Experience  was  married  Feb. 
15,  1705.  Dorcas  was  married  to  John  Atchinson.  Rebecca,  the  daugh- 
ter, was  married  to  Charles  Ferry,  Jan.  29,  1690,  and  died  Feb.  12, 
1692.  Rebecca,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  28,  1712.  Nathaniel  Burt, 
the  father,  died  Sept.  29,  1720. 

3d  Generation.  JONATHAN  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Dea. 
Jonathan  and  Elisabeth  Burt  \page  24],  was  married  Dec.  8,  1682,  to 
Lydia  Dumbleton.  Their  children — Jonathan,  born  March  25,  1683, 
died  Jan.  n,  1684.  Mercy,  born  Aug.  2,  1685.  Lydia,  born  March 
9,  1687,  died  Dec.  14,  1767.  Elisabeth,  born  Feb.  23,  1689,  died 
Jan.  31,  1769.  Jonathan,  born  March  15,  1692,  died  Jan.  24,  1712. 
Nathaniel,  born  Nov.  8,  1694,  died  July  14,  1735.  Rebecca,  born 
Nov.  12,  1696.  David,  born  Jan.  20,  1698,  died  June  29,  1786. 
Sarah,  born  Oct.  31,  1701,  died  July  14,  1739.  Hannah,  born  Dec. 
6,  1705.  Jonathan  Burt,  the  father,  died  June  19,  1707.  Lydia,  the 
mother,  was  married  again,  June  17,  1709,  to  David  Cooley,  of  Long- 


18 

meadow  [see  page  95],  and  she  died  Jan.  31,  1739.  (The  families  of 
Nathaniel  and  David,  see  page  26).  Mercy  was  married  Dec.  2, 
1709,  to  Jonathan  Day,  of  Springfield.  Lydia  was  married  March  16, 
1709,  to  Jonathan  Ely.  Elisabeth  was  married  April  20,  1710,  to 
Jonathan  Chapin,  of  Chicopee.  Rebecca  was  married  Nov.  15,  1723, 
to  Hezekiah  Parsons,  of  Enfield.  Sarah  was  married  to  Ephraim 
Colton,  of  Longmeadow,  Nov.  16,  1732.  Hannah  was  married  April 
19,  1750,  to  Dea.  John  Pierce,  of  New  Castle,  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

3d  Generation.  DEA.  NATHANIEL  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Nathaniel  and  Rebecca  Burt,  was  married  Jan.  21,  1791,  to  Elisabeth 
Dumbleton.  By  her  he  had  one  child,  Elisabeth,  born  Oct.  16,  1692. 
Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  3,  1692.  Dea.  Nathaniel  Burt  was 
married  again,  Jan.  18,  1699,  to  Mary  Ferry,  daughter  of  Charles  and 
Sarah  Ferry.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Oct.  20,  1700,  died  Aug. 
3,  1773.  Rebecca,  born  June  27,  1702,  died  March  23,  1704 
(scalded).  Experience,  born  Oct.  21,  1703,  died  Sept.  22,  1772. 
Mercy,  born  Oct.  6,  1707,  died  Feb.  3,  1713.  Rebecca,  born  June  6, 
1709,  died  Feb.  9,  1713.  Nathaniel,  born  May  4,  1711,  died  Sept.  8, 
1755  (killed  in  battle).  Mary,  the  second  wife,  died  June  2,  1739. 
Dea.  Nathaniel  Burt,  the  father,  was  married  again,  March  8,  1740, 
to  the  widow  Mary  Crawford,  who  had  been  the  wife  of  John  Scovil, 
of  Middletown,  and  he  died  July  19,  1749,  and  she  died  May  23, 
1753.  Elisabeth,  the  daughter,  was  married  to  Abel  Curtis.  They  first 
settled  in  Longmeadow,  and  removed  to  Mansfield,  Conn.  Mary  was 
married  to  Isaac  Colton,  June  i,  1722.  Experience  was  married  to 
George  Colton,  May  21,  1731. 

3d  Generation.  DAVID  BURT  \_page  26],  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Na- 
thaniel and  Rebecca  Burt,  was  married  June  27, 1706.  to  Martha  Hale, 
daughter  of  Dea.  Thomas  and  Prissilla  Hale,  of  Enfield.  Their 
children  were — David,  born  Aug.  20,  1709,  died  April  13,  1777. 
Abigal,  born  Aug.  20,  1709,  died  March  28,  1773.  Martha,  born 
July  8,  1707.  Prissilla,  born  March  18,  1711,  died  April  12,  1769. 
Rebecca,  born  Oct.  13,  1714.  Martha  was  married  to  Azariah  Allin, 
of  Enfield,  Jan.  n,  1723.  Prissilla  was  married  to  Nathaniel  Bliss, 
Sept.  25,  1733.  Abigal  was  married  Jan.  10,  1734,  to  Thomas  Hale 
[see  page  139].  Martha,  the  mother,  died  1714.  David  Burt,  the 
father,  was  married  again  to  the  widow  Joanna  Allin,  of  Suffield. 
Date  of  their  publishment,  July  2,  1715.  David  Burt,  the  father,  died 
July  5,  1735.  Joanna,  his  widow,  died  May  4,  1741. 

3d  Generation.  JOHN  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Rebecca  Burt,  was  married  Dec.  23,  1697,  to  Mary  Lumbard, 
daughter  of  David  and  Margaret  Lumbard.  John,  born  Sept. 
19,  1699,  died  April  22,  1756.  David,  born  June  30,  1701, 
died  Nov.  14,  1701.  Daniel,  born  June  5,  1703,  died  Feb.  22,  1771. 
John  Burt,  the  father,  was  killed  by  his  horse  in  a  sleigh,  Feb.  25, 
1704.  Mary,  his  widow,  was  married  to  Deliverance  Brooks.  They 
removed  to  Brimfield. 


19 

4th  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jona- 
than and  Lyclia  Burt,  was  married  to  Hannah  Church.  They  had  one 
son,  Jonathan,  born  Nov.  4,  1730,  died  May  24,  1806.  Nathaniel,  the 
father,  cut  his  throat,  July  i3th,  and  died  on  the  i4th,  1735.  Hannah, 
his  widow,  died  Dec.  27,  1741.  Jonathan,  the  son,  lived  and  died 
unmarried. 

4th  Generation.  DAVID  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jonathan 
and  Lydia  Burt  [page2$~\,  was  married  Feb.  23,  1732,  to  Jerusha  Col- 
ton,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Ephraim  and  Mary  Colton  \_page  53].  Their 
children — David,  born  June  i,  1733,  died  Nov.  14,  1822,  age  90. 
Solomon,  born  March  4,  1740,  died  Jan.  6,  1741.  Jerusha,  the 
mother,  died  Nov.  14,  1740.  David  Burt,  the  father,  was  married 
again,  1743,  to  Sarah  Ely,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Ely  [page 
123].  They  had  no  children,  and  he  died  June  29,  1786,  and  Sarah, 
his  widow,  died  June  5,  1789.  She  was  born  Aug.  30,  1705.  (The 
family  of  David,  28th  page.} 

4th  Generation.  DEA.  NATHANIEL  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Dea.  Nathaniel  and  Mary  Burt,  was  married  Jan.  u,  1739,  to  Sarah 
Chapin,  daughter  of  David  and  Sarah  Chapin,  of  Chicopee.  She  was 
born  Oct.  26,  1706.  Children — Nathaniel,  born  Nov.  15,  1739,  died 
Oct.  22.  1819,  aged  80.  Sarah,  bom  Nov.  15, 1739,  died  July  9,  1768. 
Lucy,  born  June  22,  1741,  died  March  16,  1816,  age  75.  Gideon, 
born  July  30,  1743,  died  June  12,  1825,  age  82.  Simeon,  born  Nov. 
13,  1745,  died  Sept.  12,  1746.  Eunice,  born  Feb.  4,  1747,  died  March 
29,  1749.  Sarah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Sept.  13, 1764  [page  27], 
to  John  Allis,  of  Somers,  and  died  and  was  buried  at  Longmeadow, 
July  9,  1768.  Lucy  was  married  Feb.  14,  1760,  to  Ensign  Samuel 
Williams.  Dea.  Nathaniel  Burt,  the  father,  was  slain  in  battle  near 
Lake  George,  Sept.  8,  1755.  Sarah,  his  widow,  was  married  Sept. 
17,  1767,  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  Williams,  and  she  died  Nov.  18, 
1790,  age  84  years. 

4th  Generation.  DAVID  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  David  and 
Martha  Burt,  was  married  Sept.  5,  1732,  to  Sarah  Colton,  daughter  of 
Capt.  George  Colton  [see  page  5 1].  Their  children  were— Charles, 
born  Dec.  26,  1732,  died  Aug.  8,  1755.  Sarah,  born  Nov.  12,  1734, 
died  March  28,  1759.  David,  born  Nov.  5,  1736,  died  July  6,  1809. 
Jonathan,  born  Feb.  9,  1739,  died  April  18,  1794.  Martha,  born- Oct. 
19,  1740,  died  Dec.  16, 1834,  age  94  years,  Enoch,  born  Oct.  3, 1742, 
died  March  29,  1809.  Elijah,  born  Oct.  3,  1742,  died  April  5,  1820, 
age  78  years.  Mary,  born  March  27,  1745,  died  July  17,  1783. 
Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  19,  1747,  died  August,  1827,  age  80.  Oliver,  born 
April  9,  1750.  Frederick,  born  June  4,  1752,  died  Feb.  21,  1813. 
Loice,  born  Aug.  9,  1755,  died  June  26,  1776.  Sarah,  the  mother, 
died  August  17,  1763.  David  Burt,  the  father,  married  again,  October, 
1774,  to  Rebecca  Alvard,  of  Wilbraham,  and  he  died  April  13,  1777,  and 
she  died  Oct.  17,  1793.  Sarah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Feb.  21, 
1753,  to  Gideon  Colton.  Martha  was  married  May  7,  1767,  to  Abner 
Hale  [see  page  140].  Mary  was  married  Jan.  7,  1768,  to  Henry  Col- 
ton. (The  families  of  the  sons,  seepages  29,  30  and  31.) 


20 

4th  Generation.  JOHN  BURT,  son  of  John  and  Mary  Burt,  was 
married  Sept.  7,  1727,  to  Mary  Wright.  Their  children  were — Mary, 
born  June  29,  1728.  John,  born  Feb.  u,  1731.  Benjamin,  born 
Nov.  i,  1734.  Rebecca,  born  Nov.  3,  1732.  Eunice,  born  March  12, 
1737.  Reuben,  born  Sept.  7,  1739.  Hannah.  John  Burt,  with  his 
family,  removed  from  Longineadow  to  Brimfield,  and  he  died  in  that 
town  April  22,  1756. 

4th  Generation.  MAJOR  DANIEL  BURT,  son  of  John  and  Mary 
Burt,  was  married  Feb.  2,  1727,  to  Margaret  Colton,  daughter  of 
Ephraim  and  Esther  Colton  \_page  49].  Their  children — Margaret, 
born  Jan.  12,  1728,  died  Sept.  2,  1807.  Daniel,  born  Sept.  1729, 
died  Sept.  22,  1812.  Lucy,  born  January,  1737,  died  February  3,  1756. 
Mary,  born  Sept.  1738.  Major  Daniel  Burt  settled  in  Brimfield, 
where  his  children  were  born,  and  he  died  in  that  town  Feb.  2,  1771. 
Margaret,  his  widow  died .  Margaret,  the  daughter,  was  mar- 
ried Nov.  12,  1751,  to  Abner  Colton,  of  Longmeadow. 

5th  Generation.  CAPT.  DAVID  BURT  \_page  28],  of  Longmeadow, 
son  of  David  and  Jerusha  Burt,  was  married  March  i,  1758,  to  Mary 
Colton,  daughter  of  Capt.  Simon  and  Abigail  Colton.  Children — 
Solomon,  born  Feb.  i,  1759,  died  May  7,  1777;  blown  up  in  a  powder- 
mill.  Calvin,  born  Sept.  14,  1761.  Flavia,  born  March  12,  1764, 
died  Aug.  20,  1787.  Ariel,  born  Feb.  n,  1766,  died  March  i,  1766. 
Abigail,  born  April  27,  1767.  Mary,  born  June  18,  1769,  died  Jan. 
23>  I793>  Jerusha,  born  Nov.  n,  1771,  died  Jan.  20,  1775.  Sarah, 
born  June  27,  1774.  David,  bom  July  27,  1776,  died  Aug.  15,  1777. 
Jerusha,  born  Jan.  20,  1782.  Flavia  was  married  Feb.  10,  1784,  to 
Aaron  Field  [see  page  131].  Abigail  was  married  Jan.  31,  1788,  to 
Zebulon  Betts,  of  Richmond.  Mary  was  married  Jan.  8,  1792,  to 
Eliakim  Williams  \_page  223].  Sarah  was  married  Sept.  4,  1793,  to 
William  Williams  \_page  224].  Jerusha  was  married  Dec.  24,  1805,  to 
the  Rev.  Hubbel  Loomis,  of  Willington.  Mary,  the  mother,  died 
July  29,  1800.  Capt.  David  Burt,  the  father,  was  married  again,  1802, 
to  Eunice  Hall,  the  widow  of  Dea.  John  Hall,  of  Ellington.  David, 
the  father,  died  Nov.  14,  1822. 

5th  Generation.  NATHANIEL  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Dea. 
Nathaniel  and  Sarah  Burt,  was  married  Jan.  22,  1767,  to  Experience 
Chapin,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Noah  and  Mary  Chapin,  of  Somers.  He 
died  Oct.  22,  1819,  age  80.  She  died  Sept.  2,  1834,  age  92.  Child- 
ren— Sarah,  born  July  31,  1768.  Sylva,  born  Feb.  4,  1770.  Milcha, 
born  Dec.  16,  1771.  Lycy,  born  Sept.  30,  1773,  died  Dec.  15,  1833. 
Experience,  born  August  8,  1776,  died  July  28,  1833.  Eunice,  born 
Nov.  22,  1778.  Jerusha,  born  Aug.  30,  1780,  married  to  Alex.  Field. 
Sarah  was  married  Feb.  22,  1792,  to  Nathaniel  Patten,  of  Hartford, 
Conn.  Sylva  was  married  Nov.  29,  1787,  to  Daniel  Lumbard,  of 
Springfield.  Milcha  was  married  Feb.  8,  1795,  to  J-  Moseley  Dun- 
ham. Experience  was  married  Sept.  22,  1796,  to  Dr.  Constant  Mer- 
rick.  They  removed  into  the  State  of  New  York.  Eunice  was  mar- 
ried Jan.  22,  1802,  to  Quartus  Stebbins,  of  Springfield. 


21 

5th  Generation.  COL.  GIDEON  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Dea. 
Nathaniel  and  Sarah  Burt,  was  married  Dec.  10,  1772,  to  Lydia  Hale, 
daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Lydia  Hale.  He  died  June  12, 1825,  aged  82. 
Their  children — Gideon,  born  Oct.  21,  1773,  died  Aug.  13,  1845,  age  72. 
Simeon,  born  March  3,  1775,  died  Aug.  17,  1777.  Lydia,  born  Feb. 
10,  1777,  died  Nov.  19,  1779.  Lovice,  born  March  25,  1779.  Lydia, 
the  mother,  died  Oct.  15,  1780.  Col.  Gideon  Burt  was  married  again 
Oct.  23,  1783,  to  Celia  Sabin,  daughter  of  Capt.  Simon  Colton  [pag?. 
57],  and  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  Abishai  Savin,  of  Pomphret,  but  for- 
merly of  Monson.  Their  children — Simon,  born  Aug.  7,  1784. 
Nathaniel,  born  April  16,  1786.  Sabin,  born  Feb.  22,  1788  [page 
29],  died  Feb.  n,  1862.  William,  born  Sept.  i,  1789.  John,  born 
April  28,  1791.  Celia,  the  mother,  died  April  6,  1807.  Col.  Gideon 
Burt  was  married  again  Oct.  20,  1808,  to  Elisabeth  Newel,  of  Boston. 
She  died  May  i,  1813,  aged  55.  Lovice,  the  daughter,  was  married 
Jan.  10,  1811,  to  Henry  Brewer,  of  Wilbraham. 

DAVID  BURT,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  David  and  Sarah  Burt,  was 
married  "Nov.  30,  1759,  to  Sarah  Pasco.  They  had  one  child,  Sarah, 
born  Sept.  n,  1760,  and  died  March  3,  1761.  Sarah,  the  mother, 
died  Oct.  n,  1760.  David  Burt  was  married  again  May  5,  1763,  to 
Martha  Marshfield,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Elisabeth  Marshfield,  of 
Springfield.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  March  28,  1764.  Charles, 
born  Sept.  15,  1766.  Samuel  Marshfield,  born  July  7,  1768.  Stod- 

dard,  born .  David,  born .  Martha,  the  mother,  died 

.  David  Burt,  the  father,  was  married  again  Sept.  1789^  to 

Esther  Skinner,  of  Woodstock.  They  had  one  child,  Martha,  born 
— .  Esther,  the  mother,  died  —  — .  David  Burt,  the  father, 
died  July  6,  1809,  in  his  75th  year. 

JONATHAN  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  David  and  Sarah  Burt, 
was  married  Aug.  20,  1761,  to  Hannah  Cooley,  daughter  of  Josiah 
and  Experience  Cooley  \_page  102],  Their  children — Urania,  born 
May  i,  1762.  Hannah,  born  March  18,  1764,  died  Dec.  24,  1829, 
aged  66.  Beulah,  born  July  14,  1766.  Flora,  born  Oct.  3,  1768. 
Nancy,  born  Sept.  16,  1770.  Clarissa,  born  Oct.  24,  1772,  died  March 
18,  1789.  Rebecca,  born  Dec.  18,  1774.  Lovice,  born  Aug.  22, 1778. 
Jonathan,  born  March  26,  1781,  died  Jan.  8,  1803.  Jonathan  Burt, 
the  father,  died  April  18,  1794,  being  found  dead  on  the  road  between 
his  house  and  Longmeadow  street.  Hannah,  the  mother,  was  mar- 
ried again  Sept.  15,  1796,  to  Capt.' Daniel  Perkins,  of  En  field,  he  dying 
1803.  She  returned  to  Longmeadow  and  died  Sept.  23,  1820.  Ura- 
nia was  married  Jan.  30,  1783,  to  Zadock  Stebbins  [seepage  203],  he 
dying  Dec.  17,  1803.  She  was  married  again  March  5,  1806,  to 
Simeon  White,  of  South  Hadley.  Hannah  was  married  Jan.  6,  1791, 
to  Capt.  Ethan  Ely  {seepage  126].  Beulah  was  married  July  12, 1792, 
to  Martin  Colton.  Flora  was  married  Jan.  i,  1794,  to  Moses  Burt, 
of  Springfield.  Nancy  was  married  Nov.  25,  1790,  to  Abijah  Newell, 
of  Monson.  Rebecca  was  married  Dec.  7,  1803,  to  Nathaniel  Prior, 
of  Enfield.  Loice  was  married  Nov.  18,  1801,  to  Herrnon  Newel 
{page  174]. 


22 

5th  Generation.  ENOCH  BURT  [page  30],  of  Wilbraham,  son  of 
David  and  Sarah  Burt,  was  married  Nov.  28,  1766,  to  Eunice  Steb- 
bins,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Margaret  Stebbins  {page  199].  Their 
children — Walter,  born  Oct.  30,  1767.  Eunice,  born  July  18,  1770. 

Enoch,  born .     Eunice,  the  mother,  died  May  2,  1786.    Enoch 

Burt,  the  father,  was  married  again  to  Mary  Stacy.  She  died  in  child- 
bed with  her  first  child.  Enoch  Burt  was  married  a  third  time  to 
Thankful  Skinner,  of  Woodstock.  Their  children — Calvin,  born  Nov. 
10,  1790.  Lathrop,  born  April  n,  1792.  William,  bom  May  26, 

1794.  Enoch  Burt,  the  father,  died  May  29,  1809. 

5th  Generation.  ELIJAH  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  David  and 
Sarah  Burt,  was  married  Dec.  3,  1767,  to  Deborah  Colton,  daughter 
of  Ebenezer  and  Deborah  Colton  \_page  56].  Their  children — Peggy, 
born  Sept.  14,  1768,  died  Feb.  23,  1837,  age  69.  Deborah,  born 
Dec.  31,  1769,  died  April  26,  1827,  age  57.  Elijah,  born  Nov.  10, 
1771,  died  Jan.  28,  1841,  age  69.  Luther,  born  March  n,  1773. 
Horrace,  born  Nov.  25,  1774,  died  Feb.  7,  1810.  Rhoda,  born  May 
3,  1776,  died  April  24,  1804.  David,  born  Nov.  7,  1777.  Moses, 
born  Feb.  2,  1779.  Aaron,  born  June  25,  1781.  Ebenezer,  born 
Sept.  19,  1782.  Mary,  born  Aug.  18,  1784.  Seth,  born  Feb.  8,  1786. 
Lucy,  born  March  25,  1788.  Daniel,  born  Sept.  22,  1790.  Deborah, 
the  mother,  died  April  28,  1792.  Elijah  Burt,  the  father,  was  mar- 
ried again  Oct.  31,  1793,  to  Dorothy  Booth,  widow  of  Henry  Booth, 
of  Enfield.  Rhoda  was  married  April  25,  1798,  to  Lieut.  Erastus 
Goldthwait  [page  133].  Elijah,  the  father,  died  April  5,  1820.  Doro- 
thy Burt  died  Oct.  17,  1833. 

5th  Generation.  OLIVER  BURT,  son  of  David  and  Sarah  Burt  {page 
27],  was  married  Sept.  i,  1786,  to  Jerusha  Cooley,  daughter  of 
Aaron  and  Ruth  Cooley  [page  99].  Their  children — Justin,  born 

Aug.  20,  1787.  Ralph, .  James, .  Oliver  Burt,  with 

his  family,  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York  [page  31]. 

5th  Generation.  FREDERICK  BURT,  son  of  David  and  Sarah  Burt, 
was  married  March  19,  1778,  to  Mary  Jones,  formerly  of  Somers. 
Their  children — Mary,  born  June  27,  1779.  Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  20, 
1781,  died  Feb.  28,  1782.  Mary,  the  mother,  Hied  Jan.  20,  1786. 
Frederick  Burt  was  married  again,  Aug.,  1786,  to  Mehittable  Lane- 
ton,  of  West  Springfield.  By  her  he  had  no  child.  She  died . 

Frederick  Burt  was  married  again  Nov.  20,  1794,  to  Sabrea  Bush,  of 
Springfield,  the  widow  of  Oliver  Bush,  and  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Abigail  Cooley,  and  he  went  to  live  with  her.  She  died  1812.  He 
died  Feb.  21,  1813,  in  the  poor-house  in  Springfield. 

6th  Generation.  CAPT.  CALVIN  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Capt. 
David  and  Mary  Burt,  was  married  Nov.  23,  1784,  to  Experience 
Sexton,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Sexton,  of  Wilbraham.  Their 
children  —  Solomon,  born  Jan.  25,  1785,  died  June  n,  1817.  Roderick, 
born  March  22,  1787,  died  May  19,  1850.  Calvin,  born  Jan.  18, 

1795,  died  Feb.  15,  1795.     Flavia,  born  Nov.  19,  1788,  died  Oct.  27, 
1819.     Emelia,  born  Sept.  26,  1790,  married  Elisha  Burnham  ;  he  died 


23 

Sept.  14,  1832.  Maria,  born  Nov.  26,  1792,  married  Stephen  Cooley, 
Nov.  12.  1820.  Calvin,  born  May  3,  1796,  died  Jan.  19,  1819.  David, 
born  March  9,  1799,  died  July  17,  1819.  Francis,  born  June  25,  1801. 
Experience,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  22,  1833.  Calvin  Burt,  the  father, 
died  Feb.  14,  1848,  aged  86  years. 

NATHANIEL  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Col.  Gideon  and  Celia 
Burt,  was  married  Dec.  29,  1808,  to  Lovice  Meacham,  daughter  of  Asa 
Meacham,  of  Enfield.  Their  children  —  Nathaniel  Sabin,  born  August 
23,  1809.  Celia  Colton,  born  April  26,  1812  \_page  32]. 

ELIJAH  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Elijah  and  Deborah,  was 
married  June  13,  1801,  to  Nancy  Abbe,  daughter  of  John  and  Charity 
Abbe  of  Enfield.  Their  children  —  Lorin,  born  May  22,  1802. 
Nancy,  the  mother,  died  March  24,  1804.  Elijah  Burt,  the  father, 
was  married  again  Jan.  6,  1805,  to  Polly  McKinny,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mehittable  McKinny,  of  Ellington.  Their  children  — 
William,  born  Jan.  4,  1806.  Anson,  born  July  22,  1808.  Nancy 
Abbe,  born  Dec.  21,  1810. 

LUTHER  BURT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Elijah  and  Deborah  Burt, 
was  married  October,  1799,  to  Mary  White,  daughter  of  Preserved  and 
and  Mary  White,  of  Springfield.  Their  children  —  Mary,  born  August 
31,  1800.  Anne,  born  June  21,  1802.  Rhoda,  born  June  6,  1804. 
Hezekiah,  born  April  n,  1806.  Lucius,  born  March  5,  1808.  Agus- 
tin,  born  July  4,  1810.  Luther  White,  born  July  4,  1812.  John,  born 
Jan.  30,  1815.  Richard  Storrs,  born  Oct.  26,  1817.  Delia  Bliss,  born 
July  7,  1820. 

HORRACE  BURT,  son  of  Elijah  and  Deborah  Burt,  was  married  Dec. 
19,  1802,  to  Patty  Bliss,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Martha  Bliss. 
Their  children  —  Edmund,  born  Nov.  n,  1803.  Jonathan,  born  May 
2,  1806.  Horrace,  born  Dec.  31,  1808.  Horrace,  the  father,  died 
Feb.  7,  1810.  (Vacant  to  page  42.) 

ist  Generation.  HENRY  CHANDLER,  a  native  of  Andover,  State  of 
Massachusetts,  was  born  about  the  year  1666 ;  was  married  to  Lydia 
Abbot,  in  Jan.  1723.  He  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  Enfield,  supposed  to  contain  seven  hundred  acres,  for  seven 
hundred  pounds.  He,  with  the  greatest  part  of  his  children,  removed 
to  Enfield,  probably  in  the  spring  of  the  year  after  his  purchase.  His 
children  who  did  not  come  with  him  came  afterwards.  He  and^his 
sons  settled  on  the  land  of  his  abovesaid  purchase,  except  Nehemiah, 
who  purchased  a  house-lot  adjoining  of  Benoni  Ganes.  The  children 
of  Henry  Chandler,  and  Lydia  his  wife,  were :  — Henry,  died  April  4, 
1735.  Samuel,  born  Oct.  1699,  died  April  22,  1761.  Daniel,  born 
May  25,  1701,  died  July  21,  1785.  Nehemiah,  died  Sept.  9,  1756,  aged 
54.  Lydia,  died  Feb.  4,  1780.  Abigail,  died  Jan.  21,  1772,  aged  67. 
Sarah,  born  1707,  died  Aug.  16,  1777.  Deborah,  born  July  9,  1709, 
died  Aug.  23, 1769.  Hannah,  died  May  23,  1756,  age  45.  Mary,  died 
Nov.  13,  1789,  age  76.  Isaac,  died  June  5,  1787,  age  70.  Mehittable, 
died  June  14  (12,  Dr.  Williams),  age  24.  The  sons,  with  their  families, 
are  to  be  seen  in  the  following  pages  in  this  book,  as  also  the  daughters. 


24 

Lydia  was  married  to  John  Booth,  of  Enfield,  Dec.  26,  1727.  Abigail 
was  married  to  John  Rumrill,  Feb.  14,  1728.  Deborah  was  married  to 
Ebenezer  Colton,  Oct.  25,  172-.  Sarah  was  married  to  Joseph  Booth, 
Jan.  29,  1736.  Hannah  was  married  to  Ezekiel  Pease,  Feb.  10,  1732. 
Mary  was  married  to  Timothy  Pease,  Dec.  22,  1736.  Mehittable  was 
published  to  Jonathan  Chapin,  of  Chicopee,  Dec.  8,  1743,  but  died 
unmarried.  Henry  Chandler,  the  father,  died  Aug.  27,  1737,  aged  71. 
Lydia,  the  mother,  died  March  n,  1739,  aged  74.  The  whole  number 
of  grandchildren  of  Henry  and  Lydia  Chandler,  the  father  and  mother 
of  the  above  family,  were  ninety-nine.  Henry  had  5  ;  Samuel  2  ; 
Daniel  6  ;  Nehemiah  10  ;  Lydia  10 ;  Abigail  n  ;  Sarah  9  ;  Deborah  n  ; 
Hannah  u  ;  Mary  14 ;  and  Isaac  10 ;  making  99  in  the  whole. 

2d  Generation.  DEACON  HENRY  CHANDLER,  the  son  of  Henry  and 
Lydia,  was  married  to  Hannah  Foster,  before  they  came  to  Enfield. 
Their  children  were:  —  Hannah,  born  June  10,  1724,  died  March  12, 
1751.  Henry,  born  April  2,  1726.  John,  born  Dec.  26,  1727. 
Stephen,  born  Feb.  2,  1731,  died  Sept.  10,  1804.  Solomon,  born  Jan. 
27,  1733,  died  1755.  Hannah,  the  daughter,  was  \_page  43]  married 
Sept.  1750,  to  Nehemiah  Stebbins,  of  Longmeadow,  and  died  without 
issue  March  12,  1751.  Henry's  and  Stephen's  families  may  be  seen 
in  this  book.  John  married,  and  had  children  in  South  Hadleigh,  and 

removed  from  thence  to .  Solomon  was  killed  in  a  battle  with 

the  French  and  Indians,  in  the  year  1755.  Henry,  the  father,  died 
April  4,  1735.  Hannah,  the  mother,  was  married  again,  Nov.  9,  1736, 
to  John  Ganes  of  Enfield,  and  had  two  children,  John  and  Abigail. 

2d  Generation.  CAPT.  SAMUEL  CHANDLER,  second  son  of  Lydia 
and  Henry,  was  married  to  Hepsibah  Colton,  the  daughter  of  Capt. 
Thomas  Colton,  Dec.  22,  1726.  Their  children  —  Hepsibah,  born 
Oct.  6,  1729,  died  Oct.  n,  1803.  Lydia,  born  April  20,  1735,  died 
March  n,  1736.  The  father  died  April  22,  1761.  The  mother  died 
March  7,  1760.  Hepsibah,  the  daughter,  was  married  to  Stephen 
Warriner,  1754,  and  had  by  him  one  child.  After  his  death,  married 
again  to  Stephen  Chandler. 

2d  Generation.  DEA.  DANIEL  CHANDLER,  son  of  Henry  and  Lydia, 
was  married  to  Sarah  Keep,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Keep,  of 
Longmeadow,  Jan.  4,  1728.  Their  children  —  Sarah,  died  Aug.  6, 
1729.  Daniel,  born  Jan.  20,  1732,  died  Jan  22,  1805.  Thomas,  born 
June  16,  1735,  died  Nov.  2,  1760.  Joseph,  born  April  28,  1738. 
Sarah,  born  Aug.  12,  1741.  Mehittable,  born  Dec.  17,  1744,  died 
Sept.  8,  1759.  Daniel,  the  son,  was  married  to  Esther  Bliss,  the 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah  Bliss,  of  Longmeadow,  July  26,  1759. 
He  settled  in  Enfield,  from  thence  removed  to  Hartland,  and  died 
without  issue.  Sarah  was  married  to  Jabez  Keep,  the  son  of  John 
and  Abigail  Keep,  of  Monson.  They  removed  into  the  State  of  New 
York,  to  a  town  called  Homer.  Thomas  died  unmarried.  Dea.  Chan- 
dler, the  father,  died  July  21,  1785,  aged  84.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died 
Nov.  24,  1767,  aged  64. 

2d  Generation.     NEHEMIAH  CHANDLER,  son  of  Henry  and  Lydia, 


25 

was  married  Aug.  23,  1733,  to  Mary  Burough,  of  Ellington.  Their 
children  were:  —  Nehemiah,  born  Feb.  21,  1734,  died  Oct.  23,  1738. 
Elisabeth,  born  July  26,  1735.  Samuel,  born  Oct.  n,  1737.  Nehe- 
miah, born  Sept.  15,  1739,  died  Aug.  20,  1742.  Jonathan,  born  May 
10,  1742.  Nehemiah,  born  Aug.  4,  1744.  John,  born  Sept.  14,  1746. 
Joel,  born  Oct.  24  [fage  44],  1748.  Benjamin,  born  Jan.  8,  1750. 
Zeebulon,  born  Nov.  23,  1754.  Nehemiah,  the  father,  died  Sept.  9, 
1756,  age  54.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  13,  1807,  aged  95  years, 
5  months,  and  9  days. 

2d   Generation.     ISAAC  CHANDLER,  son   of  Henry  and  Lydia,"was 

married  to  Abigail  Hale,  the  daughter  of .     Their  children  — 

Abigail,  born  Sept.  n,  1741.  Isaac,  June  24,  1743.  Mehittable, 
born  Dec.  17,  1744,  died  Feb.  22,  1795.  David,  born  Sept.  24,  1747. 
Lydia,  Oct.  23,  1749.  John,  Feb.  13,  1752.  Susannah,  Feb.  3,  1754. 
Henry,  Feb.  20,  1756.  Lois,  Aug.  14,  1758.  Nathaniel,  June,  1760. 
Abigail,  the  daughter,  married  Israel  Smith,  of  South  Hadleigh ;  he 
removed  to  Brattleborough,  from  thence  to  Susquehannah  river,  State 
of  New  York.  Isaac  married  and  settled  at  Windsor,  and  died  in 
that  town.  Mehittable  was  married  to  Mathew  Keep,  of  Long- 
meadow,  Nov.  29,  1764.  Lydia  married  Isaac  Macune,  Feb.  14, 
1781. 

3d  Generation.  HENRY  CHANDLER,  the  son  of  Dea.  Henry  and 
Hannah  Chandler,  was  married  June  6,  1751,  to  Mercy  Colton,  daugh- 
ter of  Isaac  and  Mary  Colton,  of  Wilbraham.  Their  children  — 
Hannah,  born  Oct.  28,  1751,  died  Dec.  21,  1778.  Simeon,  born  Nov. 

25>   r753-     Solomon,  born  Jan.   17,   1756.     Henry .     Reuben, 

born  Jan.  7,  1761,  died  May  4,  1761.  Reuben,  born  March  19,  1762, 
died  July  17,  1762.  Reuben,  born  Nov.  2,  1763.  Mercy,  born  Feb. 
7,  1 766  [page  45]. 

3d  Generation.  STEPHEN  CHANDLER,  son  of  Dea.  Henry  and 
Hannah  Chandler,  was  married  to  Mary  Steel,  daughter  of  John  and 
Abigail  Steel  [page  206],  the  date  of  their  publishment,  May  9,  1752. 
Their  children  were:  —  Mary,  born  Dec.  7,  1752,  died  Aug.  16,  1810. 
Stephen,  born  Oct.  15,  1754,  died  Feb.  28,  1817,  age  62.  Triphene, 
Aug.  6,  1759,  died  May  n,  1784.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  with  the 
small-pox,  Dec.  8,  1760.  Stephen,  the  father,  was  married  again  to. 
Hepsibah  Warriner,  the  widow  of  Stephen  Warriner,  of  Springfield, 
and  the  only  surviving  child  of  Samuel  and  Hepsibah  Chandler,  of 
Enfield.  Their  children  were  :  —  Samuel,  born  March  8,  1762.  Ahiel, 
born  Aug.  9,  1763.  Hepsibah,  born  May,  25,  1765.  Ama,  born  Feb. 
21,  1767.  Abner,  born  March  14,  1769,  died  March  31,  1828,  age  59. 
Hepsibah,  born  Feb.  i,  1771.  Stephen  Chandler,  with  his  family, 
resided  in  Enfield,  until  about  the  year  1786,  or  1787,  he  removed  to 
Longmeadow,  and  died  in  that  town,  Sept.  10,  1804.  Hepsibah,  the 
mother,  died  Oct.  i,  1803.  Mary,  the  daughter,  was  married  to 
Asahel  Bliss,  the  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah  Bliss,  and  by  him  had 
two  daughters,  Anna  and  Mary;  Asahel  Bliss  dying  May  n,  £777, 
four  days  after  he  was  blown  up  in  a  powder-mill.  Mary,  his  widow, 


26 

was  married  again  to  Ebenezer  Rumrill,  Sept.  3,  1781.  Triphene 
was  married  to  William  Hancock,  Jan.  21,  1778.  Stephen  and  Abner 
settled  in  Longmeadow.  Anna  married  John  Herskill,  of  Westfield, 
Vermont,  Feb.  2,  1790,  and  died  in  that  town.  Hepsibah  was  mar- 
ried to  Chauncy  Hitchcock,  of  Montgomery,  March  n,  1801.  Sam- 
uel was  married  to  Dorcas  Terry,  the  daughter  of  Selah  Terry,  of 
Enfield. 

3d  Generation.  JOSEPH  CHANDLER,  son  of  Dea.  Daniel  and 
Sarah  Chandler,  was  married  to  Mary  Chapin,  daughter  of  David  and 
Thankful  Chapin,  of  Enfield.  Their  children  —  Mary,  born  Aug.  18, 
1766.  Sarah,  born  April  6,  1769.  Joseph,  born  July  27,  1772. 
Thomas,  born  July  29,  1775.  Mehittable,  born  Nov.  18,  1777. 
Daniel,  born  Dec.  17,  1780.  George,  born  Nov.  10,  1784.  Sarah 
married  to  Noah  Cooley,  June  28,  1787  [page  46]. 

3d  Generation.  DAVID  CHANDLER,  son  of  Isaac  and  Abigail 
Chandler,  was  married  to  Miriam  Simons,  the  daughter  of  John  and 
Miriam  Simons,  March  5,  1772.  Their  children  —  Miriam,  born 
May  24,  1772.  Lucinda,  born  Feb.  24,  1774.  David,  born  April  29, 
1776,  and  died  the  same  day.  David,  born  June  20,  1778.  Ethan, 
born  March  14,  1780.  Isaac,  born  Jan.  14,  1783.  Agnes,  born  Nov. 
6,  1785,  died  March  19,  1803.  Relief,  born  Nov.  3,  1788,  djed  Sept. 
17,  1791.  Jonathan,  born  June  20,  1794.  John,  born  Oct.  16,  1796. 

4th  Generation.  STEPHEN  CHANDLER,  son  of  Stephen  and  Mary 
Chandler,  was  married  July  9,  1778,  to  Freelove  Hancock,  daughter 
of  Jabez  and  Rachel  Hancock  [page  148].  Their  children  —  Cynthia, 
born  Sept.  24,  1779.  Freelove,  born  July  24,  1781.  Stephen,  born 
Sept.  4,  1783.  Fanny,  born  June  27,  1787.  Calvin  Steel,  born  Nov. 
8,  1788.  John,  born  Sept.  20,  1795.  Dimon,  born  March  7,  1799. 
Cynthia,  the  daughter,  was  married  to  Jacob  Colton,  son  of  Henry 
Colton,  Nov.  15,  1798.  Freelove  married  Levi  Colton,  March  25, 
1798.  Fanny  married  Joseph  Stuart,  and  after  his  death,  to  Elias 
Russel.  The  father  died  Feb.  28,  1817. 

4th  Generation.  ABNER  CHANDLER  [page  47],  son  of  Stephen  and 
Hepsibah  Chandler,  was  married  Oct.  20,  1792,  to  Eunice  Colton, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Myriam  Colton.  Their  children — Abner, 
'born  March  29,  1793.  William,  born  Oct.  15,  1795,  died  Jan.  3,  1830, 
age  34.  Eunice,  born  Aug.  30,  1797.  Mirville,  born  March  31,  1799. 
Ebenezer  Colton,  born  July  u,  1802,  died  Oct.  15,  1802.  Ebenezer 
Colton,  born  Aug.  27,  1805,  died  in  Georgia.  Ama  Herskill,  born 
Dec.  31,  1809,  died  April  15,  1845,  aged  35. 

NATHANIEL  CHAPMAN  married  July  24,  1780,  to  Lucy  Cooley,  the 
daughter  of  George  and  Mabel  Cooley,  of  Longmeadow.  Their  chil- 
dren—  Nathaniel,  born  Dec.,  1781.  Abner,  born  July  16,  1783. 
Pierly,  born  March  6,  1785.  Lucy,  born  July  21,  1787.  Patty,  born 
Feb.  26,  1790.  Persis,  born  Nov.  15,  1793.  Mary,  born  Jan.  19, 
1796.  Jonathan  Cooley,  born  Feb.  2,  1798.  Davis,  born  April  25, 
1800.  Sally,  born  April  23,  1803.  Nathaniel  Chapman  with  his 
family,  removed  from  Longmeadow  to  the  western  country  in  winter, 


27 

in  the  year  1805.  He  died  at  a  place  called  Salem,  State  of  Ohio, 
Feb.  18,  1807. 

i  st  Generation.  GEORGE  COLTON  \_page  48],  known  in  the  record 
by  the  title  of  Quartermaster,  TroTh  whom  descended  all  of  the 
Coltons  in  this  country  so  far  as  known,  is  said  to  have  come  from  a 
town  in  England,  called  Suttancofield.  Came  first  to  Windsor,  mar- 
ried Deborah  Gardner,  of  Hartford,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  that  part  of  Springfield  called  Longmeadow.  His  children,  as 
recorded  in  Springfield  book,  are  the  following :  —  Isaac,  born  Nov. 
21,  1646,  died  Sept.  3,  1700,  age  54.  Ephraim,  born  April  9,  1648, 
died  May  14,  1713,  age  65.  Mary,  born  Sept.  22,  1649.  Thomas, 
born  May  i,  1651,  died  Sept.  30,  1728,  age  77.  Sarah,  born  Feb.  24, 
1652.  Deborah,  born  Jan.  25,  1654,  died  Nov.  26,  1733.  Hepzibah, 
.born  Jan.  7,  1656.  john^  born  April  8,  1659,  died  Feb.  3,  1727. 
Benjamin,  born  May  26,  1 66 1. Isaac,  Ephraim,  Thomas,  and  John, 
settled  in  Longmeadow.  Benjamin  is  supposed  to  have  died  young. 
Mary  married  Samuel  Barnard,  of  Hadleigh,  Oct.  30,  1678.  Sarah 
married  Samuel  Graves,  of  Hatfield,  Oct.  30,  1678.  Deborah  married 
Nathaniel  Bliss,  of  Longmeadow,  Dec.  28,  1676.  Hepzibah  married 
Jonathan  Wells,  of  Deerfield.  Deborah,  the  mother,  died  Sept.  5, 
1689.  George,  the  father,  married  again  March  i,  1692,  to  the  widow, 
Lydia  Lamb,  who  had  been  the  wife  of  Lawrence  Bliss,  John  Norton, 
and  John  Lamb.  She  died  Dec.  17,  1699.  He  died  Feb.  13,  1699. 

2d  Generation.  ISAAC  COLTON,  son  of  George  and  Deborah  Col- 
ton,  was  married  June  30,  1670,  to  Mary  Cooper,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Cooper;  she  was  born  Nov.  15,  1651.  Their  children  — Mary,  born 
March  30,  1671.  Sarah,  born  June  n,  1673,  died  July  9,  1689. 
George,  born  June  16,  1677,  died  Aug.  6,  1760.  Rebecca,  born  June 
20,  1681.  Deborah,  born  July  26,  1684.  A  child  born  and  died  Aug. 
i,  1687.  Hannah,  born  Aug.  8,  1688  Joseph,  born  April  20,  1693. 
Benjamin,  born  June  18,  1695,  died  May  6,  1770.  George  settled  in 
Longmeadow  [see  page  51].  Rebecca  married  Joseph  Stebbins,  Feb. 
29,  1700.  Deborah  married  David  Morgan,  Jan.  21,  1703.  Hannah 
married  Benjamin  Chapin,  Nov.  9,  1704.  Joseph  and  Benjamin  had 
families  hereafter  entered  [page  52],  Isaac,  the  father,  died  Sept.  3, 

1700,  age  54.     Mary,  the  mother,  married  Edward  Stebbins,  Oct.  18, 

1701,  after  his  return  to  Longmeadow,  and  died  there  Aug.  29,  1742, 
age  91. 

2d  Generation.  EPHRAIM  COLTON  [page  49],  second  son  of 
George  and  Deborah,  was  married  Nov.  17,  1670,  to  Mary  Drake. 
Their  children  —  Ephraim,  born  Feb.  8,  1672,  died  Sept.  22,  1753. 
Josiah,  born  Oct.  7,  1674.  Job,  born  May  14,  1677.  Samuel,  born 
Jan.  17,  1679,  died  March  13,  1744,  aged  65.  Mary,  the  mother,  died 
Oct.  19.  1681.  Ephraim,  the  father,  married  again  March  26,  1785, 
to  Esther  Marshfield,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Catharine  Marshfield  ; 
she  was  born  Sept.  6,  1667.  Their  children  — Josiah,  born  Dec.  30, 

1685.     Esther,  born  Oct.  23,  1687.     Benjamin,  born .     Skrah, 

born  March  12,  1692,  died  Jan.  14,  1780.     Daniel,  born  July  27,  1694. 


28 

Deborah,  born  April  22,  1697,  died  June  12,  1697.  Isaac,  born  July 
30,  1698,  died  March  6,  1773.  Margaret,  born  May  9,  1701.  Nathan- 
iel, born  Aug.  22, 1703.  Thomas,  born  Aug.  3,  1705,  killed  by  Indians 
June  27,  1724.  Noah,  born  Dec.  19,  1707.  Mary,  born  Aug.  u, 
1710.  Abiel,  born  Jan.  13,  1714,  died  May  9,  1714.  The  sons 
Ephraim,  Samuel,  Josiah,  and  Isaac,  had  families  which  are  entered 
in  this  book  \_pages  53  and  54],  Job  went  off  and  never  returned 
again.  Esther  married  Phillip  Smith,  of  Hadleigh.  Benjamin  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  College,  A.D.  1710,  settled  in  the  ministry  at  West  Hart- 
ford. Sarah  married  Ebenezer  Bliss  of  Longmeadow,  Jan.  29,  1719. 
Daniel  settled  at  Gilford,  in  Conn.  Margaret  married  Daniel  Burt, 
Feb.  2,  1727,  settled  in  Brimfield.  Nathaniel,  settled  at  Killingly,  in 
Conn.,  and  died  at  Cape  Britain.  Noah  married  —  -  Scott,  after 
removing  from  place  to  place  several  times,  died  at  Greenwich,  Mass. 
Mary  married  Philip  Parsons,  of  Enfield,  Dec.  4,  1729.  Ephraim,  the 
father,  settled  in  Longmeadow,  and  probably  about  the  year  1696, 
removed  to  Enfield.  His  first  children  are  recorded  in  Springfield ; 
Deborah,  and  the  following,  are  recorded  in  Enfield.  The  father 
died  May  14,  1713,  eight  months  before  his  last  child  was  born, 
and  Esther,  his  wife,  died  Jan.  20,  1714,  seven  days  after  the  birth  of 
said  child. 

2d  Generation.  CAPT.  THOMAS  COLTON  \_page  50],  son  of  George 
and  Deborah  Colton,  was  married  Sept.  n,  1677,  to  Sarah  Griswold, 
of  Lyme,  Conn.  Their  children  —  Sarah,  born  Sept.  25,  1678,  died 
June  20,  1754.  Anna,  born  Dec.  27,  1680.  Thomas,  born  March  27, 
1683,  died  Aug.  4,  1760.  Benjamin,  born  Feb.  19,  1684,  died  April  7, 
1685.  Elisabeth,  born  April  5,  1686.  Mathew,  Feb.  13,  1688,  died 
June  6,  1690.  Stillborn  child,  Sept.  n.  1690.  Sarah,  the  mother, 
died  Sept.  12,  1690.  Capt.  Thomas  Colton  married  again  Dec.  17, 
1691,  to  Hannah  Bliss,  daughter  of  Lawrence  Bliss,  of  Springfield. 
Their  children  —  Hepzibah,  born  Oct.  26,  1692,  died  March  7,  1760. 
William,  born  July  7,  1694,  died  Dec.  4,  1770.  Ebenezer,  born  July 
23,  1696,  died  Aug.  19,  1765.  Joseph,  born  Aug.  27,  1698,  died  Sept. 
10,  1698.  Isaac,  born  Oct.  10,  1700,  died  Jan.  1757.  Hannah,  born 
July  n,  1703.  Dinah,  born  Jan.  31,  1706,  died  May  5,  1706.  Abner, 
born  June  17,  1709,  died  Feb.  24,  1710.  The  sons  who  had  families 
may  be  seen  in  this  book  \_pages  55  and  56].  Sarah  was  married  to 
Samuel  Keep,  Feb.  27,  1695.  Anna  married  Samuel  Porter,  of  Had- 
leigh, Oct.  13,  1708.  Elisabeth  married  Joseph  Kellogg,  of  Hadleigh, 
July  5,  1710,  and  after  his  death  married  Billing,  of  Hatfield,  and  died 
without  issue.  Hepsibah  married  Capt.  Samuel  Chandler,  of  Enfield, 
Dec.  22,  1726.  Hannah  married  Nathaniel  Mun,  of  Springfield,  Dec. 
28,  1721.  They  removed  to  Munson,  and  died  in  that  town.  Hannah, 
the  last  wife  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton,  died  Nov.  6,  1737  ;  he  died 
Sept.  30,  1728.  On  the  6th  of  Oct.  following,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Williams 
preached  a  sermon  in  which  he  gave  Capt.  Colton  a  very  extraordinary 
character,  as  having  been  a  man  eminently  useful  in  his  day,  especially 
in  the  Indian  wars,  and  as  a  man  of  eminent  piety. 


29 

2d  Generation.  JOHN  COLTONT  the  4th  son  of  George  and  Deborah, 
was  married  Feb.  19,  1684,  to  Abigail  .Parsons,  daughter  of  Dea.  Ben- 
jamin Parsons  of  Springfield,  born  Jan.  6,  1663.  Their  children  were  : 
—  Abigail,  born  Jan.  4,  1685.  Mary,  born  May  i,  1689,  died  Jan-  16, 
1690.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  June  27,  1689.  John,  the  father, 
married  again  Sept.  2,  1690,  to  Joanna  Wolcot,  daughter  oLSjmpn 
Wolcot,  oi_Wmdj5orJ_and  sister  toJTloger  Wolcot,  GovTol  Conn,  from 
1754  to  1759^ SaraKTBorn  Sept.  6,  1692.  Martna7~born  JaTT^T 

1694.     Joanna .     John,  born  May  9,  1697,  died  Jan.  5,  1766, 

age  68.  Mary  died  Feb.  15,  1737.  George,  born  May  27,  1702,  died 
[page  51]  Feb.  15,  1725.  Eunice,  born  Feb.  22,  1705,  died  March  30, 
1778.  Simon,  and  Roger,  born  Oct.  26,  1707.  Simon,  born  1700. 
difed  May_29,  1796.  John,  the  father,  died  Feb.*^  1727.  Joanna"' 
the  mother,  died  Jan.  10,  1755.  Abigail  was  married  to  Francis 
Griswold,  of  Poquonnock,  in  Windsor,  Dec.  8,  1708.  Martha  married 
Luke  Hitchcock,  Jan.  26,  1721.  Joanna  married  Jonathan  Cooley, 
the  son  of  Obediah  and  Rebecca,  date  of  publishment  Dec.  19,  1713. 
Mary  was  married  to  Samuel  Keep,  Jan.  15,  1736.  Eunice  was  mar- 
ried to  John  Ely,  Nov.  5,  1733  ;  he  dying,  she  married  Roger  Wolcott, 
of  Windsor,  June  19,  1759  ;  he  dying,  she  married  Capt.  Joel  White, 
of  Bolton,  April  8,  1761. 

3d  Generation.  CAPT.  GEORGE  COLTON,  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary, 
was  married  to  Mary  Hitchcock,  Feb.  3,  1704,  daughter  of  Luke  and 
Sarah  Hitchcock,  of  Springfield.  Their  children  —  Timothy,  born 
Feb.  10,  1706,  died  May  27,  1787.  George,  born  Jan.  27,  1708,  died 
March  9,  1784.  Mary,  born  Nov.  1710.  Sarah,  Feb.  22,  1713,  died 
Aug.  17,  1763.  Rebecca,  born  Oct.  26.  Elisabeth,  born  April  5, 
1718.  Isaac,  born  Aug.  9,  1720,  died  Aug.  20,  1800.  Miriam,  born 
Feb.  28,  1723.  Jonathan,  born  March  u,  1726,  died  May  7,  1752. 
Timothy,  George,  and  Isaac,  had  families  hereafter  recorded.  Mary 
married  David  Merrick,  Jan.  28,  1735.  Sarah  married  David  Burt, 
Sept.  5,  1732.  Rebecca  married  Ebenezer  Bliss,  of  Lebanon,  Conn., 
May  7,  1737.  Ezekiel  Lom'is,  of  Lebanon,  married  Elisabeth,  March 
i,  1743.  Myriam  married  Nathan  Hoar,  of  Munson,  May  21,  1751. 
Jonathan  graduated  at  Yale  College  1745,  went  to  London,  and  after 
he  had  received  Episcopal  ordination  over  a  church  in  the  town  of 
Hebron,  Conn.,  and  was  returning  home,  he  died  at  sea  of  the  small- 
pox, May  7,  1752,  age  28  years.  Capt  George  Colton,  the  father, 
died  Aug.  5,  1760,  age  84  years.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  Sept.  18, 
1774,  age  86  [page  52]. 

3d  Generation.  JOSEPH  COLTON,  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary,  was  mar- 
ried May  5,  1715,  to  Abilene  Chapin,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Hannah 
Chapin ;  he  settled  in  West  Springfield.  Their  children  —  Mary,  born 
Tune  3,  1716,  died  Sept.  18,  1736.  Hannah,  born  Oct.  13,  1720. 
Joseph,  born  Sept.  18,  1723,  died  June  14,  1741.  Gideon,  born  May 
8,  1727.  Abigail,  born  Oct.  22,  1729,  died  Jan.  29,  1747.  Dinah, 
born  June  12,  1732.  Mary,  born  Jan.  n,  1738.  Dinah  was  ma-rried 
Nov.  16,  1749,  to  Seth  Miller. 


30 

3d  Generation.  BENJAMIN  COLTON,  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary  Colton, 
was  married  to  Elisabeth  Pyncheon,  daughter  of  Col.  John  Pyncheon, 
and  Bathshua  his  wife,  Feb.  6,  1721.  Their  children — Benjamin,  born 
Feb.  i,  1722,  died  June  20,  1808.  Charles,  born  March  8,  1724,  died 
March  9,  1809.  Moses,  born  Feb.  9,  1726,  died  Sept.  23,  1771. 
Gideon,  born  Feb.  n,  1728,  died  June  16,  1823,  age  95.  Elisabeth, 
born  April  18,  1730.  Bathshua,  born  Sept.  6,  1732.  Isaac,  born  Aug. 
22,  1734,  died  March  3,  1812.  William,  born  Nov.  6,  1736.  Mar- 
garet, born  Oct.  24,  1738.  Hannah,  born  Oct.  27,  1740.  Mary, 
born  Jan.  26,  1742.  Aaron,  born  March  21,  1744.  Rhocla,  born 
June  9,  1748.  Edward,  born  April  10,  1750.  Reuben,  born  Jan.  i, 
1752,  died  Sept.  26,  1757.  Benjamin,  Charles,  Gideon,  and  William, 
their  families  are  hereafter  recorded  in  this  book  [pages  59  and  60]. 
Elisabeth  married  Gideon  Merrick.  Bathshua  married  Abner  Towsley, 
of  Brimfield,  Feb.  2,  1749.  Margaret  married  Benjamin  Chapin,  Mar. 
4,  1760.  Hannah  married  Joseph  Jones,  published  July  9,  1766. 
Rhoda  married  David  Bliss,  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Priscilla.  Benja- 
min Colton,  the  father,  first  settled  in  Springfield,  afterwards  removed 
to  Ludlow;  he  was  born  June,  1695,  died  May  6,  1770,  age  75.  Elisa- 
beth, the  mother,  was  born  Dec.  27,  1702,  and  died  Sept.  26,  1776, 
age  74  \jage  53]. 

3d  Generation.  LIEUT.  EPHRAIM  COLTON,  son  of  Ephraim  and 
Mary  Colton,  was  married  Dec.  29,  1699,  to  Mary  Noble.  Their 
children — Mary,  born  Dec.  25,  1700,  died  Oct.  16,  1776.  Ephraim, 
born  May  9,  1705,  died  Aug.  31,  1750.  Deborah,  born  Feb.  25,  1708. 
Jerusha,  born  Feb.  22,  1711,  died  Dec.  14,  1740.  Two  sons  unnamed, 
were  born  Nov.  7,  one  died  the  7th,  and  the  other  the  i3th,  of  Nov. 
1712.  Dammerus,  born  Aug.  18,  1714,  died  Aug,  2,  1777.  Job, 
born  July  20,  1717.  Samuel,  born  Dec.  n,  1718.  Hannah,  born 
Feb.  21,  1724,  died  Oct.  20,  1805.  Ephraim  and  Samuel  had  fami- 
lies [see  page  61].  Deborah  married  Joseph  Hoar,  May  19,  1736, 
of  Brimfield.  Jerusha  married  David  Burt,  son  of  Jonathan  and 
Lydia,  Feb.  28,  1732.  Mary  and  Damerus  died  unmarried.  Hannah 
married  Stephen  Keep,  June  12,  1754.  Lieut.  Ephraim  Colton  died 
Sept.  22,  1753,  age  82  years.  Mary,  the  mother,  died . 

3d  Generation.  SAMUEL  COLTON,  son  of  Ephraim  Colton,  and 
Mary,  his  wife,  was  married  Jan.  16,  1707,  to  Margaret  Bliss,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Bliss,  and  Mary  his  wife,  of  Springfield,  ist  Parish.  Their 
children — Margaret,  born  April  19,  1724.  Samuel,  born  Sept.  7, 
1727,  died  Nov.  5,  1784.  Margaret  married  Capt.  Joseph  Frost,  Oct. 
29,  1744.  They  settled  at  New  Castle,  State  of  New  Hampshire. 
Samuel,  the  father,  died  March  13,  1744.  Margaret,  the  mother, 
died  Jan.  19,  1736.  (The  family  of  Samuel,  see  page  61.) 

3d  Generation.  JOSIAH  COLTON,  son  of  Ephraim  and  Esther,  his 
second  wife,  settled  in  Enfield,  and  was  married  Jan.  6,  1709,  to 
Margaret  Pease,  daughter  of  Robert  Pease.  Their  children — Josiah, 
born  Oct.  7,  1709.  Job,  born  Nov.  3,  1711,  died  March  n,  1719. 
Esther,  born  Mar.  31,  1714.  Margaret .  Abiel,  born  Jan.  27, 


31 

1718.  Anne,  born  July  26,  1720.  Hannah .  Esther  married 

Obediah  Hulbard,  June  u,  1745.  Margaret  married  David  Phelps, 
Mar.  29,  1737.  Abiel  married  Col.  John  Bliss,  Nov.  8,  1749.  Han- 
nah married  Joseph  Gleason.  Anne  married  John  Parsons,  Sept.  25, 
1740  [page  54]. 

3d  Generation.  REV.  BENJAMIN  COLTON,  son  of  Ephraim  the  first, 
and  Esther,  his  wife,  was  married  Dec.  3,  1713,  to  Ruth  Taylor.  He 
died  1759. 

3d  Generation.  ISAAC  COLTON,  son  of  Ephraim  Colton  the  first, 
and  Esther  his  wife,  was  married  to  Mary  Burt,  the  daughter  of  Deacon 
Nathaniel  Burt,  and  Mary,  his  wife,  June  i,  1722.  Their  children — 
Mary,  born  July  13,  1722.  Moses,  born  May  22,  1724.  Mercy,  born 
Feb.  9,  1726.  Esther,  born  May  30,  1728.  Isaac,  born  April  29, 

1730.  Sarah .  Abigail,  born  Feb.  25,  1733.  Stephen,  born 

Aug.  24,  1736.  Isaac  Colton,  the  father,  settled  in  Longmeadow, 
where  all  his  children  were  born  ;  he  with  his  family  removed  to  Wil- 
braham,  about  the  year  1750  ;  he  died  March  6,  1773.  Mary,  his  wife, 
died  Aug.  3,  1773.  Mary  married  Timothy  Jones,  of  Brimfield,  Dec. 
27»  T753-  Moses  married  Hannah  Hitchcock,  Dec.  27,  1753.  Mercy 
married  Henry  Chandler,  of  Enfield,  June  6,  1751.  Esther  married 
James  Merrick,  Oct.  i,  1754.  Isaac  married  Hannah  Burt,  Aug.  23, 
1753.  Abigail  married  Samuel  Kilborn,  Aug.  u,  1757.  Stephen 
married  Abigail  Stebbins,  Dec.  22,  1755. 

3d  Generation.  THOMAS  COLTON,  [page  55],  son  of  Capt.  Thomas 
Colton,  and  Sarah,  his  wife,  was  married  to  Johannah  Warriner,  daugh- 
terof  Joseph  Warriner,  April  14,  1708.  Their  children — Thankful, 
born  Sept.  13,  1709,  died  Jan.  4,  1735.  Mathew,  born  May  22,  died  July 
17,  1711.  Dinah,  born  Sept.  19,  1712,  died  Feb.  4,  1759.  Anna, 
born  Sept.  13,  1714.  Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  23,  1716.  Thomas,  born 
Oct.  6,  1719,  died  in  Longmeadow,  March  17,  1808.  Joseph,  born 
Nov.  16,  1721,  died  in  Munson  Nov.  5,  1787.  Son,  still-born,  Jan.  i, 
1727.  Thomas  Colton,  the  father,  died  Jan.  29,  1755.  Dinah  was 
married  to  Francis  Stebbins,  Sept.  20,  1744,  and  died  leaving  no  issue. 
Anna  married  Joseph  Bewel,  April  10,  1733  ;  they  settled  in  Somers. 
Elisabeth  married  Luke  Cooley,  son  of  Eliakim,  Jan.  8,  1739;  they 
lived  and  finished  their  days  in  Somers.  Thomas  settled  in  Long- 
meadow.  Joseph  married  Ruth  Colton,  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  Colton,  Nov.  23,  1744.  They  settled  in  Monson,  and  had 
daughters. 

/3d  Generation.  WILLIAM  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton, 
and  Hannah,  his  second  wife,  was  married  Jan.  24,  1717,  to  Mary 
Merrick,  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Merrick.  Their  children — Aaron, 
born  June  13,  1718,  died  June  28,  1778.  Ann,  born  Feb.  2,  1720, 
died  Nov.  23,  1771.  Mary,  born  Sept.  17,  1721.  Ruth,  born  Dec.  n, 
1722,  died  Dec.  n,  1804.  Abigail,  born  June  27,  1724,  died  Dec.  22, 
1770.  Loice,  born  April  8,  1726,  died  Nov.  26,  1800.  Eunice,  born 
July  19,  1728,  died  April  8,  1806;  burnt  to  death  by  falling  into  the 
fire,  no  person  being  with  her.  Miriam,  born  July  7,  1734,  died  May 


32 

22,  1805.  Israel,  born  July  3,  1736,  died  Sept.  5,  1741.  Aaron  mar- 
ried Mary  Ely,  Nov.  27,  1746.  Ann  married  John  Williams,  Jan.  22, 

1747.  Mary  married—  —  Chauncey,  son  of  Rev. Chauncey,  of 

Hadleigh.  Ruth  married  Joseph  Colton,  Nov.  23,  1744.  Abigail 
married  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  April  9,  1761.  Loice  was  married  to 
Richard  Woolworth,  Oct.  21,  1762.  Eunice  married  Edward  Chapin, 
July  6,  1752.  Mariam  married  Aaron  Bliss,  April  23,  1754.  Mary, 
the  mother,  died  June  5,  1767,  age  73.  William,  the  father,  married 
again  June  7,  1768,  to  Mercy  Colton,  widow  of  Lieut.  John  Colton. 
The  father  died  Dec.  4,  1770,  in  his  77th  year.  His  last  wife  died 
Aug.  4,  1780,  in  her  75th  year  \_page  56], 

3d  Generation.  EBENEZER  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Thomas  and 
Hannah,  his  second  wife,  was  married  Oct.  25,  1733,  to  Deborah 
Chandler,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Lydia  Chandler,  of  Enfield.  Their 
children — Deborah,  born  July  9,  1734,  died  Aug.  27,  1741.  Rhoda, 
born  Mar.  i,  1736,  died  June  19,  1739.  Henry,  born  Jan.  8,  1738, 
died  Nov.  n,  1787.  Ebenezer,  born  Nov.  19,  1740,  died  Aug.  25, 
1741.  Ebe"nezer,  born  April  8,  1742,  died  June  6,  1742.  Ebenezer, 
born  Mar.  20,  1743,  died  Sept.  2,  1793.  Deborah,  born  May  20,  1745, 
died  April  28,  1792.  Jabez,  born  Mar.  20,  1747,  died  April  2,  1819, 
age  72.  Rhoda,  born  Mar.  4,  1749,  died  July  13,  1806.  Hannah, 
born  June  18,  1751,  died  Oct.  9,  1808.  Elihu,  born  Sept.  5,  1753. 
(The  families  of  Henry,  Ebenezer,  Jabez,  and  Elihu,  are  hereafter 
entered  in  this  book  pages  63  and  64).  Deborah  married  Elijah 
Burt,  Dec.  3,  1767.  Hannah  was  married  to  William  Colton,  son  of 
Aaron  and  Mary,  Oct.  7,  1777.  Ebenezer,  the  father,  died  Aug.  19, 
1765.  Deborah,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  23,  1769. 

3d  Generation.  CAPT.  ISAAC  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton, 
was  married  to  Esther  Marshfield,  daughter  of  Josiah  and  Rachel 
Marshfield;  the  date  of  their  publishment  is  July  6,  1722  ;  it  is  supposed 
they  were  married  in  Hartford.  Their  children — Rachel,  born  Sept. 

9,  1723,  died  April,  1775.     Hepzibah,  born  April  13,  1726,  died  June 

10,  1726.     Abner,  born  Sept.  6,  1727,  died  July  6,  1797.     Jacob,  born 
Sept.  30,   1733,  died   Jan.  21,  1734.     Hannah,  born    Dec.  28,   1729, 
died  Feb.  n,  1742.     Beulah,  born  June  13,  1735,  died  April  24,  1786. 
Jacob,  born  Feb.  8,  1739,  died  Mar.  2,  1769.     Andrew,  born  Nov.  i, 
I743J  died  Oct.   1808.     Othniel,  born   July    24,   1747,  died    Mar.  24, 
1823.     Rachel,  was  married  to  Moses  Bliss,  son  of  Pelatiah  and  Elisa- 
beth, Dec.   10,   1747.     Abner,  Jacob,  and    Andrew,  had  families  [see 
page  65].     Beulah  married  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely,  April  3,  1777".     Capt. 
Isaac   Colton,  the  father,  died   Jan.  23,   1757.     Esther,  the   mother, 
died  April  27,  1784 ;  she  was  born  May  16,  1699 ;  she  died  in  her  85th 
year  [page  57]. 

3d  Generation.  LIEUT.  JOHN  COLTON,  son  of  John  and  Joanna 
Colton,  was  married  Dec.  22,  1726,  to  Mercy  Stebbins,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Abigail  Stebbins.  Their  children — Mercy,  born  Feb.  13, 
1728,  died  March  4,  1728.  John,  born  Feb.  21,  1729.  Mercy,  born 
Sept.  22,  1730,  died  Oct,  4,  1760.  Solomon,  born  Jan.  8,  1733. 


33 

George,  born  Jan.  7,  1736,  died  May  18,  1737,  drowned  in  a  tub  of 
water  at  the  well.  (Dr.  Williams'  journal.)  Joanna,  born  _  , 
died  Sept.  10,  1788,  aged  49.  Lucy,  born  June  24,  1742,  died  Dec.  7, 
1799.  Mercy  was  married  to  Isaac  Colton,  son  of  George  and  Mary, 
Nov.  19,  1745.  Joanna  was  married  to  Gideon  Colton,  son  of  Benja- 
min and  Elisabeth,  June  18,  1761.  Lucy  was  married  to  Samuel  Col- 
ton Oct.  16,  1765.  John  and  Solomon  had  families  [see  pages  65 
and  66].  Lieut.  John  Colton,  the  father,  died  Jan.  5,  1766.  Mercy, 
the  mother,  was  married  again  June  7,  1768,  to  William  Colton  and 
died  Aug.  4,  1780. 

3d  Generation.  CAPT.  SIMON  COLTQN,,  son  of  John  and  Toanna 
Colton,  was^  married  Feb.  ;,  1  736;  ^  Abi^aiLJBurtJ.<aTu^hter  of  CaptT 
John  Burt:  and  Abigail  his  wife.  Their  children  were,  Abigail,  born 
Jan.  15,  1737,  diedjan.  26,  1737.  Mary,  born  Dec.  18,  1737,  died 
July  29,  1800.  Abigail,  born  Dec.  2,  1739,  died  June  30,  1743. 
Flavia,  born  Aug.  31,  1741,  died  April  6,  1763.  Festus,  born  March 
31,  1743,  died  Jan.  4,  1788.  Celia,  born  May  25,  1745,  died  Oct.  13, 
1746.  George,  born  June  23,  1747,  died  at  Munson.  Celia,  born 
Nov.  22,  1749,  died  April  6,  1807.  Stillborn,  Aug.  28,  1752.  Gad. 
born_  March  12,  1754,  died_JQ£c^  28,  1831.  Luther,  born  Nov.  15, 
^7567dieoTOcfTi4,  1803!  Calvin,  born  Nov.  16,  1758,  died  Dec.  22, 


1758.  Mary  married  Capt.  David  Burt,  March  i,  1758.  Flavia  mar- 
ried Samuel  Colton,  Dec.  26,  1759.  Celia  married  Rev.  Abishai  Sabin 
of  Monson,  June  13,  1770,  and  after  his  death  she  married  Col.  Gid- 
eon Burt,  Dec.  23,  1783.  Festus,  George,  Gad,  and  Luther  had  fam- 
ilies [pages  66  and  67].  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  May  3,  1760. 
Capt.  Simon  Colton  was  married  again  Jan.  15,  1761,  to  Rebecca 
Hale,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Experience  Hale.  [See  page  138.] 
Capt.  Simon  Colton  died  May  29,  1796.  Rebecca,  the  last  wife,  died 
July,  21,  1803. 

4th  Generation.  TIMOTHY  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  George  Colton 
and  Mary  his  wife  \_page  58].  was  married  March  27,  1729,  to  Maty 
Ferry.  Their  children  were,  Timothy,  born  Feb.  27,  1730.  Charles, 
born  August  2,  1736.  Caleb,  Stephen,  Oliver.  Timothy  Colton,  the 
father,  removed  from  Longmeadow  to  Brimfield,  in  which/  town  his 
children  were  born.  He  removed  again  to  Longmeadow,  and,  after 
his  father's  death  some  years,  he  went  with  his  sons  Caleb  and 
Stephen,  removed  to  New  Grantham,  State  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
died  in  that  town  May  27,  1787.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  in  Brimfield. 

4th  Generation.  GEORGE  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  George  and  Mary 
Colton,  was  married  to  Experience  Burt,  daughter  of  Dea.  Nathaniel 
and  Mary  Burt.  The  date  of  their  publishment  is  April  29,  1731. 
Their  children  —  Experience.  Eunice.  George.  Mary.  Miriam.  Experi- 
ence married  Daniel  Burt,  of  Brimfield,  Oct.  12,  1757.  Miriam,  born 
about  1746,  married  Capt.  Ebenezer  Colton,  July  2,  1767,  died  Nov.  13, 
1831,  age  85.  George  Colton,  the  father,  removed  to  Brimfield,  where 
his  children  were  born.  He  returned  to  Longmeadow  and  died  March 


34 

io,  178^  in  his  76th  year.  Experience,  the  mother,  died  *Sept.  22, 
1772,  in  her  6gth  year. 

4th  Generation.  ISAAC  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  George  Colton,  was 
married  to  Elisabeth  Cooley,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Jemima  Cooley, 
published  Sept.  5,  1741.  Their  children — Elijah,  born  Aug.  23,  1746, 
died  Sept.  7,  1746.  Mercy,  born  June  9,  1748.  Elisabeth,  born  July 
8,  1750,  died  Nov.  n,  1760.  Nancy,  born  May  26,  1752.  Temper- 
ance, Feb.  n,  1754.  Mary,  Jan.,  1757.  Jonathan,  born  Feb.  28, 
1758.  Ama,  born  May  2,  1760  \page  59).  Mercy,  the  second  wife 
of  Isaac  Colton,  died  Oct.  4.  1760.  Isaac  Colton  was  married  a  third 
time  to  Elisabeth  Sears,  of  Middletown,  Ct.  Their  children — Elisa- 
beth, born  April  2,  1763.  James,  born  Jan.  25,  1765.  Elijah.  Isaac 
Colton,  the  father,  after  he  had  parted  with  his  estate  and  lived  a  wan- 
dering life  more  than  twenty  years,  died  at  Longmeadow,  supported  by 
the  town  of  Springfield  as  a  pauper,  Aug.  20,  1800,  the  day  on  which 
he  was  born,  being  that  day  80  years  old.  Nancy  was  married  to 
Capt.  Gad  Colton,  Oct.  21,  1773. 

4th  Generation.  BENJAMIN  COLTON,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elisabeth 
Colton,  was  married  to  Abiah  Cooley,  daughter  of  John  and  Mercy 
Cooley,  March  24,  1742.  Their  children — Abiah,  born  Jan.  26,  1743, 
died  Oct.  27,  1749.  Joseph,  born  Jan.  25,  1744.  John,  born  Oct.  22, 
1747.  Eli,  born  July  24,  1750.  Abiah,  born  Dec.  30,  1752,  died  Feb. 

13,  1811,  wife  of  Gad  Bliss.  Daniel  .  Benjamin  . 

Mary .  Abiah,  the  mother,  died .  Benjamin,  the  father, 

married  again  to Bond  (widow).  Their  children  were  :  Edward, 

born  June  15,  1779.  Moses,  Nov.  23,  1781.  Bathshuah.  Benjamin 
Colton,  the  father,  died  June  20,  1808. 

4th  Generation.  CAPT.  CHARLES  COLTON,  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Elisabeth,  was  married  to  Mary  Sikes,  Oct.  20,  1748.  Their  children 
— Frederick,  born  July  31,  1749.  Nancy,  born  June  20,  1750.  Rox- 
alane,  born  Oct.  io,  1752.  Charles,  born  Aug.  8,  1756,  died  Aug.  8, 
1756.  Alexander,  born  June  21,  1757,  died  June  21,  1757.  Margaret, 
born  May  26,  1758.  Diamond,  born  June  18,  1761,  died  June  n, 
1808.  Loice,  born  Feb.  9,  1763.  Nancy  was  married  Feb.  28,  1781, 
to  Bela  Nichols  \_page  60],  Margaret  was  married  Nov.  27,  1781,  to 
Joel  Marbel.  Roxalane  was  married  to  Aaron  Morgan,  Chicopee. 
Loice  was  married  April,  1788,  to  Calvin  Stebbins,  son  of  Capt. 
Thomas  Stebbins.  Capt.  Charles  Colton,  the  father,  died  March  9, 
1809. 

4th  Generation.  GIDEON  COLTON,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elisabeth, 
was  married  to  Sarah  Burt,  daughter  of  David  and  Sarah  Burt,  Feb. 
21,  1753.  Their  children — Simon,  born  May  17,  1753,  died  May  24, 
1754.  Simeon,  born  Jan.  21,  1755.  Sarah,  born  Feb.  26,  1757.  Sarah, 
the  mother,  died  March  28,  1759.  Gideon  Colton,  the  father,  married 
again  June  18,  1761,  to  Joanna  Colton,  daughter  of  Lieut.  John  Col- 
ton. Their  children — Gideon,  born  May  io,  1763.  Hanon,  born 
Oct.  4,  1764,  died  Aug.  28,  1828.  Zadock,  born  Feb.  18,  1766,  died 
1836.  Chauncy,  born  Nov.  4,  1768,  died  Jan.  6,  1775.  Sabra,  born 


35 

Nov.  30,  1770.  Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  30,  1774,  died  July  16,  1851. 
Chauncy,  born  Jan.  u.  1779,  died  Feb.  15,  1789.  Joanna,  the  mother, 
died  Sept.  10,  1788.  Sabra  was  married  Jan.  25,  1790,10  Harrison 
Elwell.  Sarah  was  married  to  Reuben  Warriner  Feb.  15,  1783.  They 
settled  in  Vershire,  State  of  Vermont.  Gideon,  the  father,  died  Tune 
!5>  l823>  age  95-  (Tne  families  of  the  sons  see  \npages  68  and' 69.) 

4th  Generation.  WILLIAM  COLTON,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elisabeth 
Colton,  was  married  Aug.  13,  1761,  to  Dorothy  Ashley.  Their  chil- 
dren— Dorothy,  born  March  24,  1762.  Zealous,  born  Oct.  18,  1764, 
died  May  14,  1802.  Joseph  Pyncheon,  born  Feb.  21,  1767.  Noah 
Ashley,  born  Feb.  n,  1771.  Cephas,  born  Aug.  15,  1774,  died  Sept. 
i,  1775.  Elisabeth,  born  Jan.  12,  1777. 

4th  Generation.  EPHRAIM  COLTON,  son  of  Lieut.  Ephraim  and 
Mary  Colton  [page  61],  was  married  Nov.  16,  1732,  to  Sarah  Burt, 
daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Lydia  Burt.  Their  children — Asa,  born  Aug. 
28,  1733,  died  March  18,  1778  [see  page  70].  Sarah,  born  May  23, 
1735.  Eli,  born  June  17,  1736.  Ephraim,  born  1738,  died  Sept.  30, 
1777.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  July  14,  1739.  Ephraim,  the  father, 
was  married  again  July  6,  1742,  to  the  widow  Elisabeth  Mighills.  The 
father  died  Sept.  31,  1750,  aged  45. 

4th  Generation.  SAMUEL  COLTON,  son  of  Lieut.  Ephraim  and 
Mary,  was  married  to  Mary  Hoar,  of  Brimfield,  date  of  their  publish- 
ment Sept.  12,  1750.  Their  children — Job,  born  Jan.  19,  1755. 
David,  born  June  3,  1756.  Esther,  born  Oct.  14,  1757.  Mary,  born 
Sept.  7,  1759.  Jerusha,  born  Feb.  13,  1761.  Reuben,  born  Nov.  26, 
1762.  Ephraim,  born  March  22,  1765.  Samuel  Colton,  the  father, 
with  his  family,  removed  to  Greenwich,  Mass. 

4th  Generation.  SAMUEL  COLTON,  son  of  Samuel  and  Margaret, 
was  married  to  Flavia  Colton,  the  daughter  of  Capt.  Simon  and  Abigail 
Colton,  Dec.  26,  1759.  They  had  one  child,  born  Feb.  ist  and  died 
the  3d,  1760.  She  died  April  6,  1763.  Samuel  Colton  was  married 
again  Oct.  16,  1765,  to  Lucy  Colton,  daughter  of  Lieut.  John  Colton 
and  Mercy,  his  wife.  Their  children — Adna,  born  Aug.  31,  1767, 
died  Sept.  9,  1767.  Stillborn,  Nov.  20,  1768.  Flavia,  born  Oct.  i, 
1769,  died  Aug.  4,  1815.  Margaret,  born  Nov.  18,  1770,  died  Dec. 
28,  1770.  Margaret,  born  Oct.  19,  1771,  died  Jan.  7,  1817.  Lucy, 
born  June  8,  1773,  died  Oct.  18,  1804.  Samuel,  born  Sept.  8,  1775, 
died  Aug.  25,  1777.  Samuel,  born  Feb.  4,  1778,  died  June  17,  1811. 
Samuel  Colton,  the  father,  died  Nov.  5,  1784.  Lucy,  the  mother,  died 
Dec.  7,  1799.  Flavia  was  married  to  Col.  Alexander  Field  Oct.  n, 
1787  [see  page  131].  Lucy  married  Benjamin  Stebbins,  of  Belcher, 
Jan.  29,  1794.  Margaret  married  David  Booth,  Sept.  IT,  1794. 

4th  Generation.  JOSIAH  COLTON,  son  of  Josiah  and  Margaret  Col- 
ton [page  62],  was  married  Jan.  13,  1743,  to  Ruth  Allen.  Their 
children— Mary,  born  Dec.  29,  1743.  Sarah,  born  Dec.  26,  1745. 
Ruth,  born  Feb.  26,  1748.  Elenor,  born  Oct.  28,  1750.  Job,  born 

Oct.    1 8,    1752.     Lemuel    .     Margaret  .     Zibea,  'born 

April  5,  1760.     Rachel,  born  March  29,  1762.     Josiah,  born  Aug.  12, 


36 

1764.  Josiah  Colton,  with  the  greater  part  of  his  family,  removed 
from  Enfield,  where  he  was,  to  Plainfield,  in  the  State  of  Newhamp- 
shire,  in  June,  1765  or  1766,  in  which  town  he  and  his  wife  died. 
Mary  married  Henry  Colton,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Deborah,  March 
31,  1785,  of  Longmeadow  [see  page  63].  Sarah  married  James 
Pease.  They  settled  in  Somers.. 

4th  Generation.  THOMAS  COLTON,  son  of  Thomas  and  Joanna, 
was  married  Oct.  18,  1748,  to  Deborah  Dudley,  daughter  of  Daniel 
and  Deborah  Dudley,  of  Seabrook,  Conn.  She  was  born  March  27, 
1724.  Their  children — Deborah,  born  July  17,  1749,  died  March  19, 
1751.  Mathew,  born  Jan.  15,  1750,  died  June  i,  1751.  Deborah, 
born  June  2,  1752,  died  Dec.  20,  1768.  Dinah,  born  Sept.  25,  1754, 
died  March  8,  1784.  Daniel,  born  Sept.  16,  1756,  died  Sept  29,  1756. 
Thomas,  born  Sept.  16,  1757,  died  Dec.  24,  1824.  Thankful,  born, 
Jan.  i,  1762.  Joanna,  born  April  8,  1764.  Joanna  married  John 
Coomes,  son  of  John  and  Mindwell  Coomes,  of  Enfield,  Feb.  23, 
1784  [see  page  117].  Thankful  had  two  children — Jeremiah  Colton, 
born  Sept.  12,  1791,  and  Lanson,  born  Sept.  5,  1798,  both  born  out  of 
wedlock.  Thomas,  the  father,  died  March  17,  1808.  Deborah,  the 
mother,  died  July  12,  1822,  aged  98. 

4th  Generation.  JOSEPH  COLTON,  son  of  Thomas  and  Joanna 
[page  63],  was  married  Nov.  23,  1744,  to  Ruth  Colton,  daughter  of 
William  and  Mary  Colton.  Their  children — Ruth,  born  Sept.  24, 
1745.  Thankful,  born  Aug.  16,  1747.  Editha,  born  Aug.  14,  1749. 
Joseph,  born  Aug.  4,  1751.  Joanna,  born  Aug.  12,  1753.  Joanna, 
born  Aug  14,  1755.  Mary,  born  Sept.  8,  1757.  Joseph,  born  Jan.  n, 
1759.  Lucy,  born  Nov.  21,  1761.  Rachel,  born  Jan.  20,  1764.  Anne, 
born  Feb.  i,  1766,  died  March  17,  1811.  N.  B. — The  date  of  the 
births  of  the  children  from  Rachel,  the  daughter,  are  from  her  mem- 
ory, and  so  may  not  be  entirely  correct.  Dea.  Joseph  Colton,  the 
father,  died  Nov.  5,  1787.  Ruth,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  n,  1804. 

4th  Generation.  DEA.  AARON  COLTON,  son  of  William  and  Mary, 
was  married  Nov.  27,  1746,  to  Mary  Ely,  the  daughter  of  Dea.  Jona- 
than and  Lydia  Ely.  Their  children — Israel,  born  Sept.  12,  1747, 
died  May  6,  1818,  aged  71.  Lovice,  born  Nov.  26,  1749.  Mary,  born 
Nov.  10,  1751,  drowned  May  20,  1753.  William,  born  Jan.  6,  1754, 
died  May  6,  1825.  Mary,  born  Dec.  27,  1755,  died  Oct.  i,  1757.  Aaron, 
born  Dec.  5,  1758.  Mary,  born  Feb.  28,  1761.  Walter,  born  Aug.  25, 
1764,  died  April  28,  1862,  aged  98.  Lovice  married  Tilly  Merrick,  of 
West  Springfield,  Dec.  19,  1777.  Mary  married  Simeon  Smith,  of 
West  Springfield,  Jan.  13,  1782.  Walter  settled  in  Vermont  in  a  town 
called  Georgia.  The  sons  all  had  families  [see  pages  71  and  72], 
Dea.  Aaron  Colton  died  of  the  small-pox  June  28,  1778,  aged  60. 
Mary,  the  mother,  died  of  a  cancer  Nov.  24,  1797.  The  first  Mary 
was  drowned  in  a  tub  of  water  Nov.  20,  1753. 

4th  Generation.  HENRY  COLTON,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Deborah, 
was  married  Jan.  7,  1768,  to  Mary  Burt,  daughter  of  David  and  Sarah 
Burt.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  April  19,  1769.  Henry,  born 


37 

Feb.  8,  1771,  died  Oct.  16,  1831.  Mary,  born  Oct.  5,  1773.  Jacob, 
born  Feb.  5,  1776,  died  Feb.  6, 1845,  aged  69.  Loice,  born  June  26, 
1778.  Ethan,  Nov.  18,  1780,  died  April  9,  1827,  aged  47.  Mary,  the 
mother  died  July  17,  1783.  Henry,  the  father,  married  again  March 
31,  1785,  to  Mary  Colton,  the  daughter  of  Josiah  and  Ruth  Colton, 
formerly  of  Enfield,  but  of  Plainfield,  New  Hampshire,  at  the  time  of 
the  marriage  [see  page  62].  She  died  Jan.  25,  1821.  Henry,  the 
father,  died  Nov.  n,  1787.  Sarah  married  Mathew  Keep,  Feb.  20, 
1794.  Mary  married  Noah  Coomes,  Jan.  13,  1799  [see  page  117]. 
Loice  married  Eliphael  Booth,  of  Enfield,  March  3,  1802  [see  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  sons  page  73]. 

4th  Generation.  CAPT.  EBENEZER  COLTON,  son  of  Ebenezer  and 
Deborah  Colton  [page  64],  was  married  July  2,  1767,  to  Miriam  Colton, 
daughter  of  George  and  Experience  Colton.  Their  children — Eunice, 
born  April  14,  1768,  died  April  24  or  26,  1768.  Eunice,  born  April  27, 
1769.  Ebenezer  Chandler,  born  May  10,  1771,  died  Oct.  29,  1846, 
aged  75.  Erastus,  born  May  i,  1773.  Mary,  born  Jan.  ir,  1775.  An 
infant,  born  and  died  Nov.  21,  1777.  Melzal,  born  May  i,  1780. 
Capt.  Ebenezer  Colton  died  Sept.  2,  1793,  aged  50.  Miriam,  his 
widow,  was  married  to  Mathew  Keep,  June  9,  1797.  Eunice  was  mar- 
ried Oct.  20,  1792,  to  Abner  Chandler  [page  47].  Mary  was  married 
Nov.  2,  1800,  to  Benjamin  Newell ;  they  removed  to  Pittsfield.  Mir- 
iam, the  widow,  was  married  June  9,  1797,  to  Mathew  Keep  [seepage 
159],  and  died  Nov.  13,  1831. 

4th  Generation.  JABEZ  COLTON,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Deborah, 
was  married  Jan.  27,  1784,  to  Mary  Baldwin,  daughter  of  Capt.  Eben- 
ezer and  Beltiah  Baldwin,  of  Bozra,  Conn.  She  was  born  at  Norwich, 
April  i,  1753.  Their  children — Simeon,  born  Jan.  8,  1785,  died  Dec. 
27,  1868,  at  Ashboro,  N.  C.  Elijah,  born  Nov.  21,  1786.  Mary,  born 
Nov.  18,  1794.  Simeon  and  Elijah  were  born  in  Somers,  Mary 
in  Longmeadow.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  page  78.)  Jabez,  the 
father,  died  April  2,  1819,  aged  72.  Jabez  Colton  was  graduated  at' 
Yale  College,  1774,  and  was  the  compiler  of  this  volume. 

4th  Generation.  ELIHU  COLTON,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Deborah, 
was  married  Dec.  6,  1787,  to  Abigail  Ely,  daughter  of  Dea.  Nathaniel 
Ely  and  Abigail,  his  second  wife.  Their  children — William,  born  Aug. 
29,  1789,  died  April  16,  1836.  Ebenezer,  born  Sept.  24,  1793.  Elihu, 
born  July  8,  1797,  died  at  Enfield.  Abigail,  born  April  25,  1799,  died 
Oct.  10,  1802.  Lydia,  born  April  i,  1801.  Abigail,  born  April  15, 
1804.  Elihu,  the  father,  died  May,  26,  1825,  age  72. 

4th  Generation.  ABNER  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Isaac  and  Esther 
Colton  [/#£•?  65],  was  married  Nov.  12,  1751,  to  Margaret  Burt,  daugh- 
ter of  Major  Daniel  Burt,  of  Brimfield.  She  was  born  Jan.  12,  1728. 
Their  children — Abner,  born  Feb.  12,  1753,  died  Sept.  i,  1758. 
Isaac,  born  Dec.  13,  1754,  died  Sept.  u,  1758.  Esther,  born  Dec. 
24,  1756,  died  Feb.  17,  1757.  Abner  Colton,  the  father,  died  July  6, 
1797,  in  his  7oth  year.  Margaret,  his  widow,  died  Sept.  2,  1807. 

4th  Generation.     JACOB  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Isaac  and  Esther 


38 

Colton,  was  married  Nov.  22,  1764,  to  Rachel  Marshfield,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Elisabeth  Marshfield.  Their  children — Esther,  born 
Sept.  9,  1765.  Elisabeth,  born  Jan.  8,  1769.  Jacob,  the  father,  died 
March  2,  1769.  Rachel,  the  mother,  married  again  Jan.  10,  1771,  to 
James  Ganes,  of  Enfield.  They  had  five  children  in  Enfield,  and 
removed  to  the  State  of  Vermont  with  their  children. 

4th  Generation.  CAPT.  ANDREW  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Isaac  and 
Esther  Colton,  was  married  Jan.  i,  1767,  to  Hannah  Bliss,  daughter 
of  Capt.  Timothy  Bliss.  Their  children — Clarinda,  born  June  22, 
1767.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  21,  1769,  died  Jan.  20,  1805.  Andrew, 
born  May  24,  1772.  Isaac,  born  July  12,  1773,  died  July  13,  1773. 
Vespasian,  born  Jan.  9,  1776,  died  Oct.  9,  1776.  Hannah,  the 
mother,  died  Aug.  5,  1787.  Capt.  Andrew,  the  father,  married  again 
to  the  widow  Lydia  White,  and  he  died  Oct.,  1808.  Lydia,  his  last 
wife,  died  Aug.  8,  1800. 

4th  Generation.  JOHN  COLTON,  son  of  Lieut.  John  and  Mercy 
Colton,  was  married  Nov.  22,  1749,  to  Pelelope  Woolcut,  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Abigail  Woolcut.  Their  children- — George,  born  Aug. 
25,  1752.  John,  born  Jan.  9,  1755.  Mercy,  born  April  n,  1764. 
Oliver,  born  March  23,  1766.  Eleanor.  John  Colton,  with  his  fam- 
ily, removed  to  Vermont  to  a  town  called  Fairlee. 

4th  Generation.  SOLOMON  COLTON,  son  of  Lieut.  John  and  Mercy 
Colton  \_page  66],  was  married  April  10,  1755,  to  Lucy  Cooley,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Mercy  Cooley.  Their  children — Asahel,  born  Jan. 
14,  1756.  Lucy,  born  April  16,  1758.  Elisabeth,  born  May  10,1761, 
died  May  27,  1838,  aged  77.  Sally  and  Roxey,  born  Feb.  27,  1766. 
Martha,  born  July  28,  1770,  died  June  29,  1819,  aged  49.  Lucy  ma-f- 
ried Solomon  Lomis  Feb.  22,  1784  [page  166].  Elisabeth  marrieti 
Simeon  Colton  Dec.  n,  1783  [page  68 J.  Roxey  was  married  to 
Chauncy  Cooley  Jan.  28,  1790.  Sally  married  Enoch  Colton,  son  of 
Asa  and  Sarah.  They  settled  in  Vershire,  State  of  Vermont.  Mar- 
tha married  Stephen  Keep  Nov.  27,  1791  [page  159]-  Lucy,  the 
mother,  died  May  13,  1802,  aged  72  years. 

4th  Generation.  LIEUT.  FESTUS  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Simon  and 
Abigail  Colton,  was  married  Dec.  22,  1768,  to  Eunice  Keep,  daughter 
of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Keep.  Their  children — Martin,  born  Feb.  22, 
1770,  died  Aug.  24,  1828.  Flavia,  born  Oct.  n,  1771,  died  Aug.  16, 
1799.  Lucinda,  born  Oct.  18,  1774,  died  Oct.  18,  1776.  Submit, 
born  Feb.  22,  1777,  died  Oct.  22,  1777.  Lucinda,  born  Jan.  3,  1779. 
Abigail,  born  Sept.  18,  1780.  Festus,  born  Aug.  17,  1783.  Festus 
Colton,  the  father,  died  Jan.  14, 1788.  Flavia  married  Walter  Coomes 
Jan.  6,  1790.  Lucinda  married  John  Sabin  April  28,  1805.  Eunice, 
the  mother,  died  Oct.  4,  1807. 

4th  Generation.  GEORGE  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Simon  and  Abigail, 
was  married  Sept.  22,  1769,  to  Caroline  Willard.  Their  children — 
Abigail,  stillborn.  Caroline,  the  mother,  died.  George  Colton,  the 
father,  was  married  again  to  Tabitha  Cooley,  daughter  of  David 
Cooley,  of  Palmer.  Their  children — Caroline,  born  April  9,  1772, 


39 

died  Oct.  i,  1797.  Simon,  born  April  6,  1774.  Celia,  born  March 
18,  1776,  died  Jan.  29,  1778.  David  and  Jonathan,  born  March  30 
1778.  Jonathan  died  Feb.  26,  1803.  George  Col  ton,  the  father  died 
July,  1812. 

4th  Generation.  CAPT.  GAD  CoLTON,sonof  Capt.  Simon  and  Abi- 
gail [page  67],  was  married  Oct.  21,  1 773710'  Nancy  ColtonT  daughter 
of  Isaac  and  Mercy  Colton.  Their  children— Justin^  born  Jan.  31 
1 71^ lived  in  Monson,  Maine.  Stoddard,  born  May  12,  1775,  lived ' 
m  Monson,  Maine.  Elisabeth^  born  Sept.  15,  1776,  died  Dec.  14 
1777.  Chauncy,  born  July  8,  1778,  died  Aug.  18,  1799.  Elis- 
abeth, born  Feb.  3,  1779,  died  Sept.  14,  1779.  Nancy,  born  May  8, 
1780,  died  Oct.  1781.  Betsey  and  Nancy,  born  Feb/27,  1783.  Bet- 
sey died  Feb.  25,  1801.  Cynthia,  born  Oct.  2,  1784.  Celia,  born 
Oct.  12,  1786,  died  at  Wilbraham.  Calvin,  born  March  14,  1788,  went 
to  Monson,  Maine.  Persis,  born  Sept.  20,  1789,  married  Mr.  Shaw. 
Polly,  born  March  15,  1791,  married  Francis  Fellowes,  died  March  29, 
1861.  Pamelia,  born  Oct.  5,  1792,  married  Rowland  Taylor,  Dec.  19, 
1826.  Sophrona,  born  Nov.  i,  1795,  married  Joseph  Booth  Jan.  22. 
1829.  Chauncy,  born  Aug.  31,  1800,  graduated  at  Amherst  College 
and  lived  in  Cincinnati.  Gad  Colton  was  married  to  Miriam  Hale, 
April  3,  1816,  widow  of  Hezekiah  Hale,  and  died  Dec.  28,  1831.  She 
died  July  8,  1831,  aged  73. 

4th  Generation.  MAJOR  LUTHER  COLTON,  Son  of  Capt.  Simon  and 
Abigail,  was  married  Nov.  30,  1780,  to  Thankful  \Yoolworth,  daugh- 
ter of  Richard  and  Naomy  Woolworth.  Their  children — Sabin,  born 
Aug.  1 8,  1783.  Amanda,  born  Feb.  22,  1786,  died  Feb.  4,  1843,  aged 
57.  Luther,  born  Oct.  20,  1787.  Calvin,  Sept.  14,  1789.  Oren,  born 
Oct.  23,  1791.  Simon,  born  Sept.  14,  1793.  Naomy,  Jan.  21,  1795. 
Amelia.  June  17.  1796.  Thankful,  the  mother,  died  Oct.  25,  1797. 
Major  Luther  Colton  was  married  again  April  2,  1799,  to  Mehittable 
Deming,  of  Wethersfield.  Their  children — Chauncy,  born  Jan.  5, 
1800,  died  April  29,  1820.  Laurinda,  born  Oct.  4,  1801.  Major 
Colton,  the  father,  died  Oct.  14,  1803.  Amanda  was  married  April 
30,  1811,  to  Dea.  Ebenezer  Burt.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  page 

5th  Generation.  CHARLES  COLTON,  son  of  Timothy  and  Mary 
[page  68],  was  married  June,  1757,  to  Lucy  Parsons,  daughter  of 
Moses  and  Hannah  Parsons,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — Timothy, 
born  Jan.  18,  1759,  died  Oct.  6,  1800.  Charles,  born  Oct.  22,  1760. 
Levi,  born  Oct.  13,  1762,  died  July  12,  1828,  aged  66.  Mary,  born 
July  29,  1764,  married  Elias  Goodwel,  of  Athens,  Vermont.  Jonathan, 
born  March  2,  1767.  Lucy,  born  Sept.  20,  1769.  Solomon,  born 
March  8,  1772.  died  Dec.  31,  1838.  Abigail,  born  Dec.  22,  1773,  mar- 
ried Stephen  Moltrop,  of  Westminster.  Chauncy.  born  Dec.  2,  1775, 
lived  in  Stafford.  Seth,  born  Sept.  26,  1777.  Removed  to  the  Town 
Gate,  New  York.  Lucy,  the  mother,  died  April  29,  1811,  in  her  751!! 
year. 

5th  Generation.     GEORGE  COLTON,  son  of  George  and  Experience, 


40 

was  married  Nov,  2,  1757,  to  Sarah  Colton,  daughter  of  Ephraim  and 
Sarah  Colton.  Their  children — Nathan,  born  Oct.  26,  1758,  died  Oct. 
9,  1797.  Abishai,  born  May  4,  1761,  died  1823.  Julius,  born  March 
4,  1763,  died  Jan.  3,  1830.  Alpheus,  born  Dec.  1765.  Demas,  born 
Nov.  26,  1767.  Sarah,  born  June  14,  1770,  died  June  23,  1823.  Ex- 
perience, born  Nov.  30,  1773.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  in  Vershire. 
George,  the  father,  married  again  March  9,  1796,  to  Elenor  Cane, 
daughter  of  Eli  and  Mar}'  Cooley  [page  104].  Elenor  Colton  died 
Dec.  20,  1844,  age  83.  (Sons,#ages  81  and  82.) 

5th  Generation.  SIMEON  COLTON,  son  of  Gideon  and  Sarah,  was 
married  Dec.  n,  1783,  to  Elizabeth  Colton,  daughter  of  Solomon  and 
Lucy  Colton.  Their  children — Dimon,  born  Oct.  n,  1784.  Betsey, 
born  March  6,  1786,  died  April  i,  1860.  Patty,  born  Jan.  30,  1790, 
died  about  1835.  Almira,  born  Aug.  18,  1796,  died  Dec.  i,  1797. 
Almira,  born  Oct.  12,  1798.  Patty,  was  married  May  3,  1810,  to 
David  C.  King,  son  of  Thomas  and  Eunice  King.  Simeon  Colton  died 
Jan.  5,  1834,  aged  75  years. 

5th  Generation.  GIDEON  COLTON,  son  of  Gideon  and  Joanna 
[page  69],  was  married  July  23,  1788,  to  Lucretia  Woodworth,  daugh- 
ter of  Richard  and  Loice.  Their  children — Lucretia,  born  Dec.  29, 
1788.  Gideon,  born  Jan.  10,  1794,  died  March  9,  1795.  Delia,  born 
Nov.  23,  1796.  Lucretia  was  married  Sept.  3,  1812,  to  the  Rev. 
Simeon  Colton,  of  Palmer. 

5th  Generation.  HAN  AN  COLTON,  son  of  Gideon  and  Joanna,  was 
married  to  Eunice  Cooley,  daughter  of  George  and  Mabel,  June, 
1788.  He  died  Aug.  28,  1828,  aged  64.  Their  children — Chauncy, 
born  March  3,  1789.  James,  born  April  19,  1791.  Jerry,  born  Jan. 
5,1794.  Julia,  born  Feb.  n,  1797.  Eliza,' born  Sept.  30,  1804. 
Eunice,  the  mother,  died  1806,  and  Hanan  Colton  was  married  to 

Esther .  Gideon,  born  April  6,  1809.  Esther,  born  Nov.  20, 

1810.  William,  born  Sept.  2,  1812.  Calvin  Murray,  born  Oct.  1814. 
Harriet  Angeline  Colton,  born  Aug.  8,  1814.  Samuel  H.  Chauncy, 
born  Dec.  28,  1815. 

5th  Generation.  ZADOCK  COLTON,  son  of  Gideon  and  Joanna,  was 
married  Nov.  5,  1794,  to  Hulda  Lancton,  daughter  of  John,  born  Aug. 
7,  1797.  Hulda,  born  Sept.  28,  1801.  Chauncy,  born  Jan.  29,  1800. 

DIMON  COLTON,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Capt.  Charles  and  Mercy, 
was  married,  1790,10  Thankful.  Bliss,  daughter  of  Timothy  and  Thank- 
ful. Their  children — Lucinda,  born  July  7,  1791.  Roderick  Merrick, 
born  Oct.  12,  1793.  Nancy,  born  Aug.  29,  1795.  Lucy  Bliss,  born 
Nov.  17,  1797.  George  Agustus,  born  June  23,  1800.  Almira,  born 
April  24,  1803.  Francis,  born  Jan.  3,  1805.  Charles  and  William, 
born  Jan.  19,  1808.  Dimon  Colton,  the  father,  died  June  n,  1818. 

5th  Generation.  ASA  COLTON,  son  of  Ephraim  and  Sarah  [page 

70],  was  married  to  Margaret  Stiles,  daughter  of ,  born  Nov.  i, 

1757.  Their  children  —  Margaret,  born  June  18,  1758,  died  Nov. 
13,  1806.  Margaret,  the  mother,  died  June  18,  1758.  Asa 
Colton,  the  father,  married  again  April  20,  1761,  to  Sarah  Warri- 


ner,  widow  of  Reuben  Warriner.  Their  children  —  Enoch,  born 
Nov.  30,  1761.  Asa,  born  Sept  5,  1763,  died  May  7,  1847.  Daniel, 
born  April  13,  1765.  Lucius,  born  April  5,  1767.  Lucina,  born  Jan. 
31,  1769.  Willard,  born  Sept.  27,  1770.  Electa,  born  July  22,  1772. 
Chloe,  born  Nov.  24,  1774,  died  Jan.  n,  1775.  Simeon,  born  March 
31,  1776,  died  July  16,  1777.  Simeon,  born  Jan.  7,  1778,  died  Aug. 
23,  1778.  Margaret,  the  daughter,  was  married  March  27,  1780,  to 
Lemuel  Parsons.  Asa  Colton,  the  father,  died  March  18,  1778. 
Lucina  was  married  to  Elijah  Walker,  of  Vershire.  Electa  was  mar- 
ried to  Oliver  Eno,  of  Wintonburg,  Conn.,  Sept.  15,  1791.  Sarah,  the 
mother,  died  April  3,  1816.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Simon  Willard. 
5th  Generation.  SAMUEL  COLTON,  son  of  Samuel  and  Lucy,  was 
married  to  Anne  Gregory  Warriner,  daughter  of  Dea.  Noah  and  Grace 
Warriner,  of  Wilbraham,  March  6,  1799.  Their  children — Lucy,  born 
Dec.  16,  1799,  died  April  20,  1883.  Samuel,  born  April  20,  1801, 
died  Oct.  31,  1881.  Mary  Anne,  born  Dec.  n,  1802,  died  Jan.  5, 
1880.  Emeline,  born  June  30,  1804,  died  March  6,  1863.  Flavia, 
born  Aug.  18,  1805.  Samuel  Colton,  the  father,  died  June  17,  1811. 
Anne,  the  mother,  married  Rev.  Gideon  Burt,  March  12,  1816,  died 
Nov.  9,  1853.  Lucy  married  E.  W.  Storrs,  then  of  Amherst,  June 
19,  1828.  Mary  Anne  married  Sandford  Lawton,  of  Dudley,  Dec.  4, 
1828.  Flavia  married  John  Hall  Brockway,  of  Ellington,  Conn.,  Jan. 

22,  1829.      Emeline  married  Luthert  Wright,  of  Easthampton,  Mass., 
Oct.  8,  1829.     Anne,  the  mother,  was  marrried  to  Rev.  Gideon  Burt, 
Nov.  12,  1816. 

5th  Generation.  THOMAS  COLTON,  son  of  Thomas  and  Deborah 
\_page  71],  was  married  July  24,  1788,  to  Hannah  Bliss,  daughter  of 
Aaron  and  Miriam.  Their  children — Lucy,  born  June  8,  1789,  died 
May  14,  1862.  Belinda,  born  April  26,  1791.  Deborah,  born  March 

23,  1793.     Thomas   Dudley,  born  Nov.  30,  1794.     Alvah,  born  Oct. 
13,  1796.     Hannah,  born  May  24,  1802.     Lucy  was  married  Jan.  n, 
1809,  to  Calvin  Bliss,  son  of  Noah  and  Abigail  Bliss.     Hannah,  the 
mother,  died  April  6,  1822.     Thomas,  the  father,  was  found  dead  in 
Wethersfield,  Ct.,  Dec.  24,  1824. 

5th  Generation.  ISRAEL  COLTON,  son  of  Dea.  Aaron  and  Mary 
Colton,  was  married  Nov.  29,  1775,  to  Martha  Wright,  daughter  of 
Elnathan  and  Mary  Wright,  of  Northampton.  He  died  May  6,  1818. 
She  died  April  4,  1829.  Their  children — Martha,  born  Sept.  24,  1776, 
died  Dec.  13,  1821.  Miranda,  born  July  29,  1778,  died  Oct.  18,  1799. 
Israel,  born  June  10,  1780,  died  Dec.  21,  1838.  Aaron,  born  Oct.  9, 
1782.  Horrace,  born  Sept.  30,  1784.  Nancy,  born  Sept.  2,  1786. 
Warham,  born  Sept.  i,  1788.  Sylvia,  born  Oct.  27,  1790.  Nancy  was 
married  Oct.  u,  1810,  to  Oliver  Bridgman,  of  Belchertown.  Sylvia 
was  married  Jan.  7,  1812,  to  Capt.  George  Gilbert,  of  Belchertown, 
Mass. 

5th  Generation.  DEA.  WILLIAM  COLTON,  son  of  Dea.  Aaron  and 
Mary  Colton,  was  married  Oct.  7,  1777,  to  Hannah  Colton  [page  72], 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Deborah.  He  died  May  6,  1825.  Their 
6 


42 

children — William  Merrick,  born  Aug.  22,  1778,  died  Feb.  17,  1823, 
age  44.  Adolphus,  born  Feb.  22,  1780,  died  July  13,  1782.  Han- 
nah, born  Feb.  7,, 1782.  Rhodolphus,  born  Dec.  3,  1784.  Sophrone, 
born  Oct.  14,  1786.  Jecluthan,  born  July  29,  1791.  Hannah  Colton, 
the  mother,  died  Oct.  9,  1808.  Dea.  William  Colton  was  married  again, 
1809,  to  Eleanor  Pomeroy,  widow  of  William  Pomeroy,  of  Northamp- 
ton. Hannah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan.  14,  1808,  to  Erastus 
Goldthwait.  Sophrone  was  married  Sept.  29,  1808,  to  Calvin  Pierce. 
(The  sons,  see  page  83). 

5th  Generation.  AARON  COLTON,  son  of  Dea.  Aaron  and  Mary 
Colton,  settled  in  Hartford  April  5,  1787,  married  Elizabeth  Olmsted, 
of  East  Hartford.  Their  children — Laura,  born  May  2,  1788.  Betsey, 
born  March  18,  1794.  An  son,  born  Dec.  23,  1797.  Nathan,  born 
May  27,  1799. 

5th  Generation.  WALTER  COLTON,  son  of  Dea.  Aaron  and  Mary 
Colton,  was  married  1793,  to  Thankful  Cobb,  daughter  of  John  Cobb, 
of  Hardwick,  State  of  Massachusetts.  Their  children — Harvy,  born 
Oct.  26,  1793.  Susannah,  born  July  26,  1795.  Walter,  born  May  9, 

1797.  Quintus   C.,  born  May    22,    1799.     William,  born  March  22, 
1801.     Addison  Ely,  born  April  2,  1803.  Hannah,  born  April  4,  1805. 

5th  Generation.  LIEUT.  HENRY  COLTON,  son  of  Henry  and  Mary 
Colton  \_page  73],  was  married  Oct.  4,  1797,  to  Lydia  Booth,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  Booth.  Their  children — Lydia,  born  Oct.  29, 

1798.  died  Sept.  21,  1802.     Henry,  born  Oct.  8,   1800.     David,  born 
Oct.  3,  1803.     Lydia,   born  May  28,    1805.    .  Sophrona,  born  Jan.  10, 
1809.     Sarah,  born  March  10,  1811,  died  about  the  year  1821. 

5th  Generation.  JACOB  COLTON,  son  of  Henry  and  Mary  Colton, 
was  married  Nov.  15,  1798,  to  Cynthia  Chandler,  daughter  of  Stephen 
and  Free  Love  Chandler.  Their  children — Jacob,  born  Sept.  10, 

1799.  Cynthia,  born   Sept.    14,   1802.     Daniel,  born  July  16,  1805. 
Naomy,   born  Feb.  8,    1812,  died   Nov.  20,  1815.     David  Burt,  born 
Jan.  20,  1821.     Jacob  Colton,  the  father,  died  Feb.  6,  1845,  age  69. 

5th  Generation.  ETHAN  COLTON,  son  of  Henry  and  Mary  Colton, 
was  married  March  25,  1804,  to  Ruth  Sfebbins,  daughter  Zadock  and 
Urania  Stebbins.  Their  children — Theodore,  born  Jan.  15,  1805. 
Margaret  Chapin-,  born  April  10,  1808.  Sophia  Stebbins,  born  Aug. 
5,  1810.  Ruth  Colton,  the  mother,  died  June  25,  1814.  Ethan 
Colton,  the  father,  died  April  9,  1828. 

5th  Generation.  EBENEZER  CHANDLER  COLTON,  son  of  C'apt. 
Ebenezer  and  Miriam  Colton  [page  74],  was  married  Nov.  19,  1795, 
to  Phebe  Barton.  She  was  born  Aug.  n,  1774,  daughter  of  John  and 
Abigail  Barton.  She  died  Aug.  26,  1842,  age  68.  He  died  Oct.  29, 
1846,  age  75.  Their  children — Rufus,  born  Aug.  24,  1796,  lived  near 
Amsterdam,  N.  Y.  Phebe,  born  Nov.  15,  1797,  died  Nov.  21,  1827. 
Lyman,  born  May  13,  1799,  married  Jerusha  Williams.  Hannah 
Warren,  born  Feb.  8,  1801,  married  Julius  Edwards  May  i,  1851. 
Jeinda,  born  March  24,  1803.  Ebenezer,  born  Feb.  17,  1805,  lived 
at  West  Springfield.  John,  born  May  2,  1807,  lived  at  Philadelphia. 


43 

Rhocla,  born  Dec.  31,  1809,  married  Samuel  C.  Booth.  Caroline, 
born  Sept.  3,  1811,  married  James  S.  H.  Hamelton.  David,  born  Aug.' 
10,  1813,  lived  at  Philadelphia.  Chauncy,  born  Aug.  27,  1821,  mar- 
ried Betsey  M.  Havens,  of  Somers,  1845.  Nancy,  born  March  7, 
1816,  died  April  i,  1852. 

5th  Generation.  ERASTUS  COLTON,  son  of  Capt.  Ebenezer  and 
Mirian  Colton,  was  married  Nov.  29,  1798,  to  Cynthia  Brewer, 
daughter  of  George  and  Naomy  Brewer.  Their  children — Erastus, 
born  Sept.  30,  1799.  Richard,  born  Nov.  6,  1803.  Cynthia,  born 
Dec.  2,  1805.  Bela,  born  Jan.  23,  1808.  Chester  Woodworth,  born 
Aug.  i,  1810. 

5th  Generation.  MELZAR  COLTON  {page  75],  son  of  Capt.  Ebenezer 
and  Miriam  Colton  [page  64],  was  married . 

5th  Generation.  ASAHEL  COLTON,  son  of  Solomon  and  Lucy 
Colton,  was  married  June  5,  1787,  to  Sarah  Lancton,  daughter  of 
John  and  Sarah,  of  West  Springfield.  Their  children — William,  born 
Nov.  25,  1789,  died  Jan.  16,  1871,  at  Chicopee.  Solomon,  born  June 

9,  1791,  lived  at ,  Vermont.     Sally,  born  March   17,   1793,  died 

Nov.  3,  1868.  Asahel,  born  Feb.  26,  1795.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died 
March  29,  1797.  Asahel  Colton,  the  father,  was  married  again,  Feb. 
21,  1798,  to  Susannah  Cheney,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Deborah 
Cheney,  of  East  Hartford.  Their  children — Anna,  born  Sept.  14, 
1799.  Susannah,  the  mother,  died  Feb.  n,  1810.  Asahel  Colton 
was  married  again,  Aug.  6,  1811,  to  Flavia  Hale,  daughter  of  Silas 
and  Hannah  Hale  [page  140],  she  died  Oct.  13,  1840,  age  74  years. 
He  died,  Jan.  6,  1831,  age  75  years. 

5th  Generation.  MARTIN  COLTON,  son  of  Lieut.  Festus  and  Eunice 
Colton  [page  76],  was  married  July  12,  1792,  to  Beula  Burt,  daughter 
of  Jonathan  and  Hannah  Burt.  Their  children — Rebecca,  born  Oct. 
21,  1793,  married  Silas  Hale  Charissa,  born  Nov.  i,  1795,  married 
Silas  Hale,  died  Dec.,  1840.  Lucius,  born  Feb.  9,  1798,  died  Sept.  3, 
1822,  age  24.  Justin,  born  May  19,  1800.  Flavia,  born  Aug.  21, 
1802.  Jonathan  Burt,  born  Aug.  18,  1804;  lived  at  Windsor.  Albert, 
born  Nov.  i,  1806,  died  July  31,  1813,  age  6.  The  father  died  Aug. 
24,  1828. 

5th  Generation.  FESTUS  COLTON,  son  of  Lieut.  Festus,  was  married 
Aug.  1806,  to  Lois  Richardson,  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Anne  Richard- 
son, of  Somers.  Their  children — Lucinda,  born  Jan.  14,  1809. 
Lorenzo,  born  Dec.  14,  1810. 

6th  Generation.  ASA  COLTON,  son  of  Asa  and  Sarah  [page  77], 
was  married  June  13,  1793,  to  Abigail  Bliss,  daughter  of  Ebenezer 
and  Abigail  Bliss.  Their  children — Justin,  born  March  24,  1794, 
died  March  12,  1798.  Newton,  born  Sept.  17,  1795,  married  Naomi 
Robinson,  of  Granville,  died  Aug.  20,  1858.  Abigail,  born  Feb.  25, 
1797,  died  May  9,  1854.  Sarah,  born  June  23,  1798,  married  -  — , 
Dec.  14,  1824,  died  April  8,  1872.  Clarinda  and  Miranda,  born  Feb. 
15,  1800.  Clarinda  died  Oct.  n,  1800.  Miranda  died  July  31,  1851. 
Justin,  born  Jan  5,  1802,  married  Emeline  Phelps,  of  Torrington ;  died 


44 

Sept.  12,  1852.  Simeon,  born  Sept.  10,  1803,  died  Sept.  29,  1805. 
Moses,  born  Aug,  3,  1805,  died  July  17,  1828.  Justin  married  Sophia 
F.  Colton ;  published  June  6,  1833.  Emeline,  his  wife,  died  Aug.  30, 
1832,  age  25.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  13,  1842,  age  73. 
Asa,  the  father,  died  May  7,  1847. 

4th  Generation.  MOSES  COLTON,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Isaac  and 
Mary  Colton,  was  married  Dec.  27,  1753,  to  Hannah  Hitchcock, 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Hannah  Hitchcock.  Their  children — 
Moses,  born  Oct.  7,  1754,  died  Oct.  20,  1774.  Hannah,  born  Dec. 
26,  1756.  Thankful,  born  Dec.  21,  1759,  died  May  i,  1775.  Nathan, 
born  July  29,  1761.  ,  Reuben,  born  Dec.  7,  1764.  Aaron,  born  Oct. 
15,  1768.  Eunice,  born  Nov.  28,  1771.  Moses  Colton,  the  father, 
died  of  the  small  pox  Feb.  24,  1777.  Hannah,  his  widow,  died  Dec. 
3,  1789.  Eunice  was  married  Nov.  15,  1792,  to  John  Hale  [see page 
142.] 

4th  Generation.  STEPHEN  COLTON,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Isaac 
and  Mary,  was  married  Dec.  22,  1755,  to  Abigail  Stebbins.  Their 
children — Nameless,  born  March  21,  1756,  and  died  the  same  day. 
Abigail,  born  Jan.  24,  1757.  Sarah,  born  June  19,  1758.  Isaac,  bom 
April  13,  1760.  Sabara,  born  March  27,  1762.  Lina,  born  Sept.  10, 
1764.  Cloe,  born  Jan.  i,  1766.  Reuba,  born  Nov.  27,  1767. 
Stephen,  born  June  18,  1770.  Plinny,  born  March,  1772.  Elam, 
born  Aug.  28,  1774.  Mercy,  born  Oct.  1776.  Hannah,  born  Feb. 
12,  1779.  Betsey,  born  Sept.  4,  1781.  Stephen  Colton,  the  father, 
died  July  30,  1812. 

5th  Generation.  REV.  SIMEON  COLTON,  son  of  Jabez  and  Mary 
\_page  78],  was  married,  Sept.  2,  1812,  to  Lucretia  Colton,  daughter  of 
Capt.  Gideon  and  Lucretia  Colton  [page  69]. 

5th  Generation.  ELIJAH  COLTON,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jabez 
and  Mary,  was  married,  May  19,  1811,  to  Oliver  Taylor,  daughter  of 
Stephen  and  Anna  Taylor  [page  211].  He  died,  Jan.  17,  1844,  age 
57.  Their  children — Anna,  born  June  15,  1812,  married  Timothy 
Warren  Pease,  of  Enfield,  1836.  Stephen  Taylor,  born  Aug.  21,  1815, 
married  Cynthia  Terry,  of  Enfield.  1842.  Francis,  born  Jan.  8,  1820, 
died  Sept.  30,  1822. 

5th  Generation.  SABIN  COLTON,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Major 
Luther  and  Thankful  Colton,  was  married  Jan.  2,  1811,  to  Rhoda 
Boardman.  Their  children — Delia  Thankful,  born  Oct.  30,  1811. 
Sabin  Woolworth,  born  Feb.  20,  1813.  Grocer.  Philadelphia.  Rhoda 
B.,  born  Oct.  30,  1814.  Julia  Ann,  born  April  20,  1825. 

CAPT.  LUTHER  COLTON,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Major  Luther  and 
Thankful  [page  79],  was  married  Dec.  17,  1809,  to  Lucy  Cooley, 
daughter  of  Josiah  and  Abie!  Cooley.  Their  children — Luther 
Woolworth,  born  April  3,  1812.  Francis,  born  March  16,  1815,  died 
April  19,  1815.  Lucy  Ann,  born  June  i,  1817.  Josiah  Cooley  Colton, 
born  Dec.  9,  1825. 

6th  Generation.  LEVI  COLTON,  son  of  Charles  and  Lucy,  was 
married  March  25,  1798,  to  Freelove  Chandler,  daughter  of  Stephen 


45 

and  Freelove  Chandler.  Their  children — Love,  born  Dec.  31,  1798, 
died  Jan.  12,  1820,  age  22.  Lovice,  born  April  5,  1800,  married 
Roswell  Terry,  of  Enfield,  1830.  Levi,  born  May  23,  1802,  lived  in 
New  York.  Chauncy,  born  Jan.  26,  1804,  married  Lavinia  H.  Ware, 
of  Oakham,  1830.  Eliza,  born  Feb.  19,  1806.  Julia,  born  March 
25,  1808.,  married  Andrew  King,  of  Suffield,  1830.  Francis,  born  Sept. 
9,  1810.  Nancy  Amanda,  born  Oct.  4,  1814.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  2, 

1817.  Levi,  the  father,  died  July  12,  1828.     His  widow  married  John 
Warner,   1831.     Lovice  married  S.  Allen,  of  Springfield,   March  26, 
1823. 

6th  Generation.  SOLOMON  COLTON,  son  of  Charles  and  Lucy,  was 
married  Oct.  12,  1796,  to  Elisabeth  Hancock,  daughter  of  William 
and  Hannah  Hancock.  Their  children — Jonathan,  born  July  21, 
1797.  Ransiey,  born  April  29,  1799.  Solomon,  born  Nov.  3,  1800, 
died  May  21,  1802.  Elisabeth,  born  Nov.  12,  1802.  Lucy,  born  July 
8,  1804.  Solomon,  born  June  15,  1807.  Aaron,  born  April  26,  1809, 
died  April  27,  1833.  Stephen,  born  March  4,  1811.  Solomon,  the 
father,  died  Dec.  31,  1838,  aged  66. 

6th  Generation.  ALPHEUS  COLTON,  son  of  George  and  Sarah 
Colton  [page  81],  was  married,  Aug.  31,  1786,  to  Loice  Spencer, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  Spencer,  of  Somers.  Their  children — Alpheus 
Spencer,  born  May  2,  1788,  went  to  New  London.  Loice,  born  Feb. 
23,  1791,  married  William  C.  Silcox,  Aug.  31,  1812,  died  April  18, 
1838.  Nathan  Titus  Salter,  born  March  10,  1794,  went  to  Rochester. 
Experience,  born  April  6,  1797,  married  Josiah  Hunt,  pub.  Sept.  6, 

1818.  Harriet,  born  July  6.   1799,  married  Walter  Bliss,  Dec.    19, 
1820.     James,  born  Aug.  7,  1801,  lived  in  New  York,  married  Lovice 
Calkins.     Levi  Snow,  born  Sept.  30,  1804,  lived  in  Iowa.     Daniel  L., 
born  Nov.  25,  1806,  died  Dec.   19,  1821,  age  15.     Noah,  born  Feb. 
22,  1811,  died  Sept.   29,    1811.     Alpheus,   the  father,  died  Oct.  22, 
1823,   age  58.     Lois,   the    mother,  died   May  15,   1830.     James  was 
married  Nov.  13,  1823. 

6th  Generation.  DEMAS  COLTON,  son  of  George  and  Sarah  Colton, 
was  married  Feb.  5  or  6,  1789,  to  Mary  Woolworth,  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Loice  Woolworth.  Their  children — Laura,  born  Sept. 
15,  1789,  married  Daniel  Burbank,  died  March  19,  1853.  Philanda, 
born  Sept.  4,  1791,  died  Nov.  27,  1813,  age  22.  George,  born  Sept.  29, 
1793,  died  at  Springfield,  about  1836.  Loice,  born  March  14,  1796, 
married  Mr.  Comstock,  of  Hartford.  Demas,  born  March  24,  1798, 
lived  at  Newark,  New  Jersey.  Joseph  Hutchins,  born  July  5,  1800, 
lived  at  New  York.  Polly  Woolworth,  born  Nov.  30,  1802,  married 
Lathrop  Olmsted;  died  in  Iowa.  Lester,  born  April  4,  1805,  died  at 
Hartford.  Angeline,  born  May  31,  1809,  married  Mr.  Wentworth, 
her  second  husband.  Chauncy  Goodrich,  born  July  3,  181 1,  died  April 
c,  1812.  Mary,  the  mother  of  this  familv,  died  Oct.  10,  1834,  age 

*j>  J  ~ 

65. 

6th  Generation.  ABISHAI  COLTON,  son  of  George  and  Sarah  Colton 
[page  82],  was  married  May  20,  1792,  to  Abigail  Denison,  daughter 


46 

of  William  and  Susannah  Denison,  of  Strafford,  State  of  Vermont; 
they  were  formerly  of  Stoningtqn,  State  of  Connecticut.  Their 
children — Lyman,  born  March,  1793,  died  July,  1793.  Alanzo,  born 
Oct.  1794.  William  Denison,  born  Jan.  21,  1797.  Calvin  Swan, 
born  Sept.  18,  1799.  Rufus,  born  Oct.  24,  1802.  Amanda,  born 
Nov.  29,  1804,  died  aged  2  years  and  6  months.  Adolphus,  born 
March  12,  1808,  died  the  i3th  of  April  following. 

6th  Generation.  JULIUS  COLTON,  son  of  George  and  Sarah  Colton, 
was  married  to  Sibyl  Port,  Nov.  1789.  Their  children — Calvin,  born 
Aug.  26,  1790,  died  April  20,  1799.  Asenath,  born  Feb.  u,  1792. 
A  son,  born  Sept.  7,  1793,  died  2gth  of  Dec.  Flavia,  born  April  3, 
1797.  Lucy,  born  Dec.  2,  1794.  Julius,  Jan.  24,  1801,  died  Dec.  28, 
1824,  age  24.  Isaac  W.,  born  Nov.  10,  1803,  died  Aug.  28,  1828. 
Thiam,  born  April  u,  1806.  Sibyl,  born  Dec.  i,  1808,  died  1816. 
Pamelia,  born  April  27,  1812.  Sybil,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  15,  1840, 
age  72. 

6th  Generation.  DIMON  COLTON,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ensign 
Simeon  and  Elisabeth  Colton,  was  married  Jan.  19,  1809,  to  Lydia 
Rogers,  she  died  Aug.  30,  1829,  age  44.  Their  children — Lydia,  born 
Jan.  26,  1810,  married  Ezekiel  Adams,  of  Springfield.  Sophia  Field, 
born  Sept.  20,  1811,  married  Justin  Colton.  Amelia  Griswold,  born 
Dec.  22,  1813,  married  Otis  Chapman,  of  Springfield.  Dimon,  born 
Feb.  26,  1816,  married  Elisabeth  D.  Parker,  1851.  Simeon,  born 
Aug.  18,  1818.  Moses  Field,  born  Feb.  17,  1-822.  Elisabeth  Almira, 
born  Oct.  25,  1827.  Lydia  Champion,  born  Jan.  26,  1810. 

.  6th  Generation.  WILLIAM  MERRICK  COLTON,  of  Longmeadow 
[/#£•<?  83],  son  of  Dea.  William  and  Hannah  Colton,  was  married  Jan. 
13,  1808,  to  Esther  Ely,  daughter  of  Judah  and  Anne  Ely,  of  Wilbra- 
ham,  he  died  Feb.  17,  1823,  age  44.  Their  children — Hannah,  born 
Oct.  17,  1808.  William  Ely,  born  Jan.  18,  1810.  Chauncy,  born 
Nov.  21,  1811,  and  died  aged  eight  hours.  Eleanor  Pomeroy,  born 
May  4,  1814,  died  July  16,  1814.  Jonathan,  born  Dec.  i,  1812,  died 
Dec.  2,  1812.  Eleanor  Pomeroy,  born  June  26,  1815.  Mercy  Ely, 
sister  of  Ethan  Colton,  died  Aug.  23,  1842.  [Vacant  to  page  92.] 

ist  Generation.  BENJAMIN  COOLEY  appears  to  have  been  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  that  part  of  Springfield  called  Longmeadow,  and 
from  whom  descended  all  of  that  name  in  the  country,  as  far  as  is  known. 
His  wife's  name  was  Sarah.  The  time  and  place  of  their  marriage  is 
not  known.  Their  children  as  recorded  were  : — Bethiah,  born  Sept. 
16,  1643,  died  Dec.  9,  1711.  Obecliah,  born  Sept.  27,  1646,  died  Sept. 
3,  1690.  Elakin,  born  Jan.  8,  1648,  died  Dec.  i,  1711.  Daniel,  born 
May  2,  1651,  died  Feb.  9,  1727.  Sarah,  born  Feb.  27,  1653.  Benja- 
min, born  Sept.  i,  1656,  died  Nov.  29,  1731.  Mary,  born  June  22, 
1659.  Joseph,  born  March  6,  1661,  died  May  20,  1740.  (The  families 
of  the  sons  are  hereafter  in  this  book  recorded.)  Bethiah  was  married 
to  Henry  Chapin  Dec.  5,  1664.  Sarah  married  Jonathan  Morgan, 
Jan.  5,  1679.  Mary  married  Thomas  Terry,  April  21,  1687.  Benja- 
min Cooley,  the  father,  died  Aug.  17.,  1684.  Sarah,  his  wife,  died 
Aug.  23,  1684. 


47 

2d  Generation.  OBADIAH  COOLEY,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah 
Cooley,  was  married,  Nov.  9,  1670,  to  Rebecca  Williams.  Their  chil- 
dren— Rebecca,  born  Aug.  23,  1671.  Sarah,  born  Aug.  3,  1673. 
Mary,  born  Dec.  9,  1675.  Obadiah,  born  Aug.  i,  1678,  died  Oct.  6, 
1764.  Anna,  born  March  5,  1681.  Joseph,  born  Nov.  12,  1683,  died 
Sept.  20,  1767.  Jonathan,  born  June  28,  1686,  died  Aug.  2,  1752. 
Maty  married  John  Ferry,  May  28,  1696.  Obadiah,  the  father,  died 
Sept.  3,  1690.  Rebecca,  the  mother,  married  again  to  John  Warner, 
Nov.  26,  1691.  Anna  married  Nathan  Collens,  published  Jan.  21, 
1711 ;  they  settled  in  Brimfield.  Rebecca,  wife  of  John  Warner,  died 
Oct.  18,  1715.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  pages  94  and  95.) 

2cl  Generation.  ELIAKIN  COOLEY,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah 
Cooley  \_page  93],  was  married  Mar.  12,  1679,  to  Hannah  Tibbals. 
Their  children — Hannah,  born  Dec.  24,  1679.  Eliakin,  born  Mar.  19, 
1 68 1,  died  Feb.  6,  1755.  Mercy,  born  April  26,  1689.  Hannah  mar- 
ried Hezekiah  Parsons,  Feb.  20,  1701.  Mercy  married  John  Morgan, 
Jan.  14,  1714.  Eliakin,  the  father,  died  Dec.  i,  1711,  in  his  64th 
year.  Hannah,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  16,  1711. 

2d  Generation.  DANIEL  COOLEY,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah,  was 
married  Dec.  8,  1680,  to  Elisabeth  Wolcott.  Their  children — Benja- 
min, born  Oct.  28,  1681.  Daniel,  born  Mar.  23,  1683.  Simon,  born 
Mar.  6,  1687.  John,  born  Feb.  23,  1689,  died  May  10, 1761.  Thomas, 
born  Jan  23,  1693,  died  Nov.  13,  1719,  of  the  king's  boil.  Elisabeth, 
born  July  23,  1696.  William,  born  Aug.  12,  1698.  (The  families  of 
the  sons  may  be  seen  hereafter,  96,  97,  98.)  Elisabeth  married  Joshua 
Field,  Dec.  15,  1719.  Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  31,  1708. 
Daniel  Cooley  was  married  again  June  17,  1709,  to  Lyclia  Burt,  widow 
of  Jonathan  Burt.  Daniel,  the  father,  died  Feb.  9,  1727,  in  his  76th 
year.  Lydia  died  Jan.  31.  1739. 

2d  Generation.  BENJAMIN  COOI.EY,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah 
Cooley,  was  married  to  Abigail  Bag.  Their  children — Abigail,  born 
Oct.  28,  1695.  Lydia,  born  Sept.  6,  1706.  Abigail  married  Henry 
Woolcott,  Dec.  27,  1716  \page  228].  Lydia  married  Amos  Stiles,  Jan. 
i,  1730.  Benjamin,  the  father,  died  Nov.  1731,  2gih  day.  Abigail, 
the  mother,  died  Jan.  2 7,.  1739. 

2d  Generation.  LIEUT.  JOSEPH  COOLEY,  5th  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Sarah  Cooley  \__page  94],  was  married  Jan.  22,  1684,  to  Mary  Griswold. 
Their  children — Man-,  born  Oct.  i,  1685.  Joseph,  born  Jan.  31,  1687, 
died  Oct.  19,  1741.  Deborah  and  Abigail,  born  Feb.  22,  1690. 
George,  born  Jan.  27,  1698.  Mary  married  Joseph  Loomis,  of  Wind- 
sor, June  3,  1710.  Deborah  married  Joshua  Loomis,  of  Windsor,  Oct. 
1715.  Abigail  married  Daniel  Parsons,  June  2,  1709.  Lieut.  Joseph 
Cooley,  the  father,  with  his  son  Joseph,  removed  to  Somers  about  the 
year  1730.  and  after  his  death  (May  20,  174°).  Mary,  his  wife,  died 
July  13,  1739. 

3*d  Generation.  OBADIAH  COOLEY,  son  of  Obadiah  and  Rebecca, 
was  married  to  Dorcas  Hale,  Jan.  22,  1702.  Their  children— Obadiah, 
born  Jan.  9,  1705.  Noah,  born  Aug.  10,  1706.  Moses,  born  Mar.  13, 


48 

1710.  David,  born  June  27,  1712.  Abel,  born  April  12,  1717. 
Jacob,  born  Nov.  18,  1720.  Obadiah  Cooley,  the  father,  lived  in 
Springfield,  and  died  Oct.  6,  1764.  Obadiah,  the  son,  settled  in 
Brookfield.  Noah  settled  in  Brimfield.  David  in  Palmer,  Moses  and 
Jacob  in  Springfield,  and  Abel  in  West  Springfield. 

3d  Generation.  JOSEPH  COOLEY,  son  of  Obadiah  and  Rebecca, 
was  married  to  Margaret  Macranny,  published  Nov.  28,  1713.  She 
was  born  Sept.  16,  1689.  Their  children — Aaron,  born  Aug.  16,  1716, 
died  Dec.  19,  1793.  Caleb,  born  June  4,  1722,  died  May  16,  1793. 
Margaret,  born  Nov.  5,  1726,  died  Dec.  3,  1807.  Margaret  was  mar- 
ried to 'Daniel  Burt,  Dec.  20,  1753.  Joseph  Cooley,  the  father,  died 
Sept.  20,  1767,  age  82.  Margaret,  the  mother,  died  May  29,  1777. 
(See  the  families  of  the  sons,  page  99.) 

3d  Generation.  JONATHAN  COOLEY,  son  of  Obadiah  and  Rebecca, 
\_page  95],  was  married  to  Joanna  Colton,  daughter  of  John  and  Joanna 
Colton,  date  of  their  publishment  Dec.  1713.  Their  children — Dinah, 
born  May  31,  1715,  died  Oct.  5,  1757.  Jonathan,  born  May  17,  1717, 
died  Aug.  7,  1741.  Roger,  born  Sept.  21,  1719.  Rebecca,  born  Sept. 
14,  1724,  died  Feb.  24,  1783.  George  Colton,  born  April  26,  1727, 
died  June  6,  1778.  Jabez,  born  July  17,  1729.  Stephen,  born  Aug. 
20,  1732,  died  Jan.  7,  1787.  Joanna,  born  Nov.  10,  1735,  died  Nov. 
26,  1735.  Ezekiel,  born  May  31,  1737,  died  July  3,  1737.  Dinah 
was  married  to  Samuel  Ely,  Jan.  26,  1744.  Rebecca  was  married  to 
Capt.  Moses  Field,  Sept.  15,  1748.  Jonathan,  the  father,  died  Aug.  2, 
1752,  age  66.  Joanna,  the  mother,  died  May  21,  1765.  (The  sons, 
page  i  oo. ) 

3d  Generation.  ELIAKIM  COOLEY,  son  of  Eliakim  and  Hannah, 
was  married  to  Griswold  Beckwith,  of  Lyme,  Connecticut;  Sept.  14, 

1706,  they  were  published.     Their  children — Eliakim,  born  Sept.  27, 

1707.  Griswold,  born    Dec.  3,  1709,  died    Jan.  26,   1764.     Mathew, 
born   Jan.  27,   1712.      Josiah,  born    May    10,   1714,  died    May    26, 
1715.     Josiah,  born    Nov.   18,  1716,  died    Sept.  7,   1778.     Luke,  born 
Nov.  7,   1718,  died    Jan",   i,   1777.       Hezekiah,  born    Aug.   7,  1720, 
died     Mar.   27,    1796.       Hannah,  born     Nov.   26,    1722,   died     Aug. 
20,  1725.     Gideon,  born    Nov.  21,  1724,  died    Dec.  12,  1726.     Elisa- 
beth, born    Mar.   19,   1727.     Esther,  born    Oct.   15,   1729.      Eliakim 
married  Mary  Ashley,  Nov.  7,  1734;  settled  in  West  Springfield,  May 
19,  1728.     The  house  of  Eliakim   Cooley  was  struck  with  lightning, 
and  so  injured  his  daughter  Griswold,  that  she  never  recovered  from 
the  hurt  wholly,  and  died  in  a  single  state.     Mathew  settled  at  Sea- 
brook,  Connecticut.     Luke    married    Elisabeth    Colton,  daughter   of 
Thomas    and   Joanna    Colton,  Jan.  8,  1739;  they   settled   in  Somers. 
Josiah  and  Hezekiah  had  families  in  Longmeadow  \_page  102].    Elisa- 
beth married  Daniel  Burchand.     Esther  had  one  child  named  Mary, 
Dec.  13,  1751,  and  May  12, 1757,  Esther  was  married  to  Abihel  Pease, 
son  of  Robert  Pease,  of  Somers.     Eliakim,  the  father,  died  Feb.  25, 
1758,  age  77  years.     Griswold,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  26,  1754. 

3d    Generation.     SAMUEL   COOLEY,  son   of   Eliakim    and   Hannah 


49 

[page  96],  was  married  Oct.  24,  1711,  to  Mary  Clark,  of  Windsor. 
Their  children — Hannah,  born  Sept.  3,  1712,  died  Feb.  14,  1714. 
Samuel,  born  Oct.  27,  1714,  died  April  n,  1746.  Israel,  born  Feb. 
19,  1717,  died  Dec.  22,  1775.  Mary,  born  April  5,  1724.  (See  the 
families  of  Samuel  and  Israel  in  this  book,  page  103.)  Mary  was  mar- 
ried to  Dyrick  Venhorn,  Aug.  2,  1744,  and  after  his  death  she  was 
married  to  Jesse  Warner,  Aug.  29,  1753.  Samuel  Cooley,  the  father, 
died  Mar.  6,  1755.  Mar}',  the  mother,  married  Lieut.  John  Anderson, 
of  Windsor,  Jan.  8,  1759.  After  his  death  she  returned  to  Longmeadow, 
and  died  July  3,  1781. 

30!  Generation.  BENJAMIN  COOLEY,  son  of  Daniel  and  Elisabeth, 
was  married  Jan.  31,  1701,  to  Margaret  Bliss,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Bliss,  Jr.,  and  Sarah,  his  wife.  Their  children — Benjamin,  born  Nov. 
5,  1701.  Keziah,  born  Oct.  29,  1702.  Azariah,  born  Aug.  21,  1704. 
Nathaniel,  born  June  24,  1706.  Zerniah,  born  Feb.  29,  1709.  Mar- 
garet, born  Jan.  30,  1710.  Ebenezer,  born  July  5,  1716.  Benjamin 
Cooley,  with  his  family,  removed  to  Brimfield,  and  he  and  his  wife 
probably  died  in  that  town. 

30!  Generation.  DANIEL  COOLEY,  son  of  Daniel  and  Elisabeth,  was 
married  Nov.  7,  1710,  to  Jemima  Clark.  Their  children — Daniel, 
born  Sept.  n,  1711.  Jemima,  born  Jan.  5,  1713.  Elisabeth,  born 
July  28,  1714,  died  July  30,  1742.  Ann,  born  April  20,  1716.  Noah, 
born  Oct.  12,  1718.  Mary,  born  Sept.  30,  1720.  Thomas,  born  Feb. 
13,  1723.  Sarah,  born  May  25,  1725,  died  March  3,  1795.  Azuba, 
born  Oct.  7,  1728.  Noah,  and  the  preceding  children,  are  recorded 
in  Enfield,  the  others  in  Springfield.  Elizabeth  was  married  to  Isaac 
Colton,  son  of  Capt.  George  Colton,  1741.  Sarah  was  married  to 
Ebenezer  Bliss,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah,  Oct.  18,  1749.  Jemima, 
the  mother,  died  Oct.  29,  1732.  Daniel,  the  father,  first  settled  in 
Enfield,  and  afterwards  removed  to  West  Springfield. 

3d  Generation.  SIMON  COOLEY,  son  of  Daniel  and  Elisabeth  \_page 
97],  was  married  to  Elisabeth  Gun,  of  Hatfield,  Feb.  26,  1709. 
Their  children — Elisabeth,  born  Jan.  4,  1711.  Abner,  born  Jan.  22, 
1713.  Simon,  the  father,  with  his  family  removed  to  Sunderland. 

3d  Generation.  JOHN  COOLEY,  son  of  Daniel  and  Elisabeth,  was 
married  May  28,  1713,  to  Mercy  Gun,  of  Westfielcl.  Their  children- 
John,  born  July  29,  1715,  died  Sept.  4,  1715.  John,  born  Sept.  28, 
1716,  died  Oct.  24,  1718.  Mercy,  born  Dec.  29,  1718.  Abiah,  born 
Feb.  n,  1721.  Elisabeth,  born  Feb.  n,  1724.  Eli,  born  Oct.  15, 
1726,  died  Jan.  29,  1806.  Lucy,  born  June  13,  1730,  died  May  13, 
1802.  Mercy  was  married  to  Abel  Cooley,  son  of  Obediah  and  Dor- 
cas, date  of  their  publishment,  Mar.  21,  1741.  Abiah  was  married  to 
Benjamin  Colton,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elisabeth  Colton,  Mar.  24, 
1742.  Elisabeth  was  married  Oct.  6,  1742,10  Samuel  Breek.  Lucy 
was  married  to  Solomon  Colton,  son  of  Lieut.  John  Colton,  April  10, 
!755-  J°hn  Cooley,  the  father,  died  May  10,  1761,  age  72.  Mercy, 
the  mother,  died  Dec.  27,  1758. 

3d  Generation.     THOMAS  COOLEY,  son  of  Daniel  and  Elisabeth,  was 


50 

married  to  Rebecca  Elmer ;  date  of  their  publishment,  Dec.  3,  1715. 
They  had  one  child — Reuben,  born  Feb.  13,  1717.  Thomas,  the 
father,  died  Nov.  13,  1719.  Rebecca,  the  widow,  was  married  to 
Edward  Kibbe,  son  of  Edward  Kibbe,  of  Somers,  Oct.  4,  1722.  Reu- 
ben, the  son,  settled  in  Somers ;  had  a  family. 

3d  Generation.  WILLIAM  COOLEY,  son  of  Daniel  and  Elisabeth 
[page  98],  was  married  to  Elisabeth  Clark  April  n,  1727.  Their 
children — William,  born  Feb.  28,  1730.  Elisabeth,  born  March  23, 
1734.  William  Cooley  first  lived  in  Longmeadow,  where  his  first  child 
was  born.  He  removed  to  Enfield,  where  his  second  child  was  born. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  Bolton,  and  died  in  that  town  and  left  no 
male  issue.  He  had  two  daughters  ;  one  of  them  had  a  son,  known 
by  the  title  of  Dr.  Cooley. 

3d  Generation.  JOSEPH  COOLEY,  son  of  Lieut.  Joseph  Cooley  and 
Mary,  was  married  May  28,  1713,  to  Mary  Dorchester,  daughter  of 
James  and  Sarah  Dorchester.  He  was  born  Jan.  31,  1687.  Their 
children — George,  born  Aug.  n,  1714,  died  Sept.  14,  1714.  Mary, 
born  Nov.  9,  1715.  George,  born  Oct.  17,  1717.  Asahel,  born  Oct. 
24,  1719.  Joseph,  born  Dec.  2,  1721.  Sarah,  born  Jan.  i,  1724,  died 
Aug.  9,  1794.  Job,  born  June  2,  1726,  died  Nov.  22,  1728.  James, 
born  July  26,  1728.  Deborah  and  Abigail,  born  Nov.  29,  1730. 
Abigail  died  Oct.  6,  1787.  Eunice,  born  April  28,  1736.  George  and 
James  had  families  in  Somers.  Asahel  settled  in  Wallingford,  Conn. 
Joseph  Cooley  removed  from  Longmeadow  to  Somers  about  the  year 
1731.  All  his  children,  except  Eunice,  are  recorded  in  Springfield. 
Sarah  was  married  to  Abner  Bliss,  of  Longmeadow,  June  28,  1749. 
Abigail  married  Ebenezer  Bliss,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Joanna,  Aug. 
27,  1760.  Joseph,  the  father,  died  Oct.  19,  1741.  Mary,  his  widow, 
married  Nathaniel  Bliss,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah,  of  Longmeadow. 
Date  of  their  publishment,  Oct.  30,  1742.  She  was  born  Sept.  30, 
1694,  and  died  April  2,  1773,  in  her  79th  year. 

4th  Generation.  AARON  COOLEY,  son  of  Joseph  and  Margaret 
\J>age  99],  was  married  July  15,  1756,  to  Ruth  Mears.  Their  chil- 
dren— Ruth,  born  July  18,  1757.  Margaret,  born  Feb.  3,  1759. 
Jerusha,  born  April  ti,  1761.  Lucinda,  born  Sept.  7,  1763,  died  Sept. 
24,  1763.  Lucinda,  born  Oct.  27,  1765.  Tirza,  born  July  21,  1767. 
Aaron,  born  June  18,  1770.  Lois,  born  June  8,  1774,  died  Aug.  n, 
1777.  Lewis,  born  Oct.  18,  1776.  Ruth  was  married  to  Oliver  King 
of  Wilbraham,  Jan.  27,  1777.  Margaret  was  married  to  William  Han- 
cock, of  Enfield,  May  26,  1785.  Jerusha  had  a  son  named  Samuel 
Church,  and  was  married  to  Oliver  Burt,  son  of  David,  Sept.  i,  1786. 
Lucinda  was  married  to  Oliver  Collins,  of  Springfield,  Aug.  17,  1794. 
Tirza  was  married  to  Peter  Terry,  of  Enfield,  Oct.  26,  1791.  Aaron 
Cooley,  the  father,  died  Dec.  19,  1793.  Ruth,  the  mother,  married 
again,  May,  1797,  to  Daniel  Fowler,  of  Westfield.  Aaron  and  Lewis 
removed  to  the  State  of  New  York. 

4th  Generation.  CALEB  COOLEY,  son  of  Joseph  and  Margaret,  was 
married  to  Ann  Clark  Feb.  7,  1745.  She  died.  Caleb  Cooley 


married  again  Jan.  2,  1752,  to  Mary  Burt,  the  daughter  of  Capt.  John 
and  Mary  Burt,  of  Springfield.  Their  children— Ann,  born  Oct.  22, 
1752,  died  Aug.  23,  1831.  Caleb,  born  Aug.  6,  1754,  died  Feb.  n, 
1785.  Seth,  born  June  14,  1757,  died  Nov.  2,  1763.  John,  born  Oct. 

31,   1761,  died  Oct.  3,   1827.     born  Jan.  27,  1765,  lived  at 

Salem,  N.  Y.     Clarinda,  born  July  i,  1771,  died  May  2,  1841.     Ann 

was  married   to  Oliver  Field   Nov  4,    1773.     Caleb  married  

Phelps,  of  Hadleigh.  Clarinda  was  married  to  Oliver  Blanchard  (who 
was  born  March  23,  1769)  March  23,  1794.  Caleb,  the  father,  died 
May  1 6,  1793.  Oliver  Blanchard  died  Oct.  31,  1808,  and  his  widow, 
Clarinda,  was  married  Sept.  24,  1809,  to  Dr.  Oliver  Bliss,  son  of  Aaron 
and  Miriam  Bliss.  John  [seepage  104]. 

4th  Generation.  ROGER  COOLEY,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Joanna 
\page  100],  was  married  Aug.  4,  1748,  to  Mary  Stebbins.  Their  chil- 
dren— Mary,  born  May  16,  1749,  died  Aug.  18,  1758.  Jonathan,  born 
Jan.  25,  1750.  Joanna,  born  April  20,  1753.  Persis,  born  Nov.  10, 
1755,  died  Aug.  5,  1758.  Hulda,  born  March  24,  1758.  Roger,  born 
Sept.  3,  1760.  Alexander,  born  Jan.  4,  1763.  Festus,  born  Oct.  4, 
1765.  Mary,  born  Aug.  30,  1767.  Persis,  born  June  8,  1769.  Roger 
Cooley,  with  his  family,  removed  to  that  part  of  West  Springfield 
called  Paugatuck. 

4th  Generation.  GEORGE  COLTON  COOLEY,  son  of  Jonathan  and 
Joanna  Cooley,  was  married  to  Mabel  Hancock,  daughter  of  John  and 
Anna  Hancock,  Jan.  12,  1749.  Their  children — Mabel,  born  May 
16,  1749,  died  Oct.  27,  1781.  Abner,  born  Aug.  20,  1751,  died  Jan. 
21,  1752.  Abner,  born  Jan.  22,  1753,  died  March  7,  1776.  Dinah 
and  Lucy,  born  March  22,  1755.  Lucy  died  Nov.  7,  1756.  George, 
born  Oct.  15,  1756.  Dinah,  born  Aug.  26,  1759,  died  July  20,  1760. 

Submit,  born' 8,  1761,  died   May  9,  1761.     Lucy,  born  June  9, 

1762.  Jonathan,  born  June  10,  1764,  drowned  in  the  river  Feb.  10, 
1798.  Noah,  born  June  27,  1766.  Eunice,  born  Dec.  15,  1769. 
Ezekiel,  born  Nov.  28,  1772.  Mabel  was  married  Feb.  13,  1772,  to 
John  Burt,  of  Springfield.  Lucy  was  married  to  Nathaniel  Chapman, 
July  24,  1780.  George  was  married  to  Penelope  Rumrill,  June  24, 
X779-  Jonathan  married Stebbins,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Steb- 
bins, of  Springfield,  and  died  without  issue,  being  drowned  in  Connec- 
ticut River.  George,  the  father,  died  by  the  smallpox,  which  he  had 
by  inoculation,  June  6,  1778.  Mabel,  the  mother,  was  married  again, 
Nov.  29,  1797,  to  Capt.  Joseph  Ferry,  of  Springfield,  and  died  Dec. 
28,  1806.  Eunice  was  married  to  Hanan  Colton,  son  of  Gideon  and 
Joanna  Colton,  June,  1788. 

4th  Generation.  JABEZ  COOLEY,  son  of  Jonathan  and  JoannaJ/^ 
95],  was  married  to  Abigail  Hancock  Oct.  19,  1752.  Their  children 
— Asahel,  born  April  5,  1753.  Reuben,  born  Sept.  24,  1754.  Uriel, 
born  Aug.  25,  1756.  Dinah,  born  Aug.  29,  17^8.  Bathshua,  born 
March  IT,  1761.  Abigail,  born  Nov.  4,  1762.  Reuben,  born  Jan.  6, 
1765.  Bathsheba,  born  Jan.  23,  1767.  Heman,  born  Nov.  i,  1,768. 
Beulah,  born  April  3,  1772.  Asenath,  born  June  21,  1773.  Jabez, 


52 

born  March  10,  1775.  Jabez  Cooley,  the  father,  settled  in  that  part 
of  Springfield  called  Skipmuck,  where  his  children  were  born. 

4th  Generation.  STEPHEN  COOLEY,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Joanna, 
was  married  to  Mary  Field  ;  date  of  their  publishment  Sept.  26,  1753. 
Their  children — Stephen,  born  Feb.  14,  1754,  died  Aug.  18,  1754- 
Stephen,  born  March  27,  1755,  died  June  9,  1830,  age  75.  Abigail, 
born  April  19,  1757,  died  April  9,  1826,  age  67.  Joanna,  born 
July  20,  1759.  Luther,  born  March  16,  1761.  Gideon,  born  Jan. 
31,  1763,  died  Nov.  21,  1838,  age  76.  Calvin,  born  Feb.  16, 

1765,  died  Feb.  19,  1846.  Jthamar,  born  ,  died  Feb.  15, 

1767.  Jthamar,  born  Aug.  10,  1768.  Mary,  born  July  18,  1770,  died 
June  24,  1814.  Hanan,  born  July  18,  1773.  Mary,  the  mother,  died 
April  3,  1782.  Eunice  Jennings  died  March  5,  1823.  Stephen,  the 
father,  married  again  April  26,  1785,  to  the  widow  Eunice  Jennings, 
of  Ludlow.  He  died  Jan.  7,  1787,  age  55.  Abigail  was  married  to 
Noah  Bliss  Feb.  n,  1784.  Joanna  was  married  to  Er  Taylor  April 
13,  1784.  Mary  was  married  to  Moses  Taylor.  (The  sons,  see  106 
and  107.) 

4th  Generation.  ELIAKIM  COOLEY,  son  of  Eliakim  and  Griswold 
[page  102],  was  married  Nov.  7,  1734,  to  Mary  Ashley.  He  settled  in 
West  Springfield.  Their  children — Elakim.  Gideon,  born  March  15, 
1739.  Justin,  born  Jan.  25,  1741,  died  Dec.  12,  1760.  Martha,  born 
May  12,  1743.  Solomon,  born  June  22,  1745,  died  Sept.  2,  1746. 
Keziah,  born  May  5,  1750.  Solomon,  born  Jan.  24,  1753.  Charles, 
born  Sept.  15,  1755.  Thankful,  born  Feb.  17,  1760. 

4th  Generation.  JOSIAH  COOLEY,  son  of  Eliakim  and  Griswold,  was 
married  to  Experience  Hale,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Experience 
Hale,  Jan.  3,  1739.  Their  children — Experience,  born  June  8,  1739, 
died  June  18,  1771.  Hannah,  born  Oct.  i,  1742,  died  Sept.  23,  1820, 
Eleanor,  born  July  10,  1745,  died  Oct.  21,  1777.  Sabinah,  born  Feb. 
26,  1747,  died  Dec.  12,  1823.  Josiah,  born  Nov.  30,  1749,  died  Feb. 
13,  1824,  age  74.  Rebecca,  born  July  31,  1752,  died  Jan.  21,  1775. 
Simeon,  born  May  18,  1755,  died  Nov.  12,  1757.  Experience  was 
married  to  Ebenezer  Spencer,  of  Somers,  March  27,  1766.  Hannah 
was  married  to  Jonathan  Burt  Aug.  20,  1761.  Eleanor  was  married 
to  Ebenezer  Rumrill  Dec.  i,  1767.  Sabina  was  married  to  Samuel 
Keep  June  4,  1767.  Josiah,  the  father,  died  Sept.  7,  1778,  in  his  62d 
year.  Experience,  the  mother,  died  Oct.  31,  1798,  age  84.  (The 
family  of  Josiah,  see  page  198.) 

4th  Generation.  HEZEKIAH  COOLEY,  son  of  Eliakim  and  Griswold, 
was  married  to  Charity  Clark,  of  Lebanon,  Conn. ;  date  of  their  publish- 
ment Jan.  ir,  1752.  Their  children — Charity,  born  June  15,  1753, 
died  Aug.  26,  1763.  Clark,  born  Sept.  6,  1754,  died  Nov.  2,  1757. 
Rubie,  born  Aug.  19.  Charity,  born  Oct.  6,  1759,  died  Feb.  3,  1775. 
Esther,  born  Dec.  19,  1760,  died  April  9,  1777.  Flavia,  born  Jan.  26, 
1763.  Hezekiah,  born  March  n,  1765.  Clark,  born  Oct.  i,  1769. 
Rubie  was  married  to  Robert  Pease,  of  Somers,  March  6,  1776. 
Flavia  was  married  to  Joseph  W.  Cooley  April,  1787.  Clark  was  mar- 


53 

ried  to  Lovina  Billings  July  6,  1791.  He/ekiah,  the  father,  died  March 
27,  1796,  age  76.  Charity,  the  mother,  drowned  herself  in  a  well 
Sept.  23,  1808. 

4th  Generation.  CAPT.  LUKE  COOLEY,  son  of  Eliakim  and  Gris- 
wold  Cooley  {page  103],  was  married  Jan.  8,  1739,  to  Elisabeth  Colton, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Joanna  Colton.  They  settled  in  Somers, 

and  died  in  that  town.     Their  children — Solomon,  born ,  died 

Oct.  3,  1741.  Lois,  born  .  Eunice,  born  Nov.  6,  1742.  Jo- 
anna,   .  Nathan, .  Elisabeth, .  Lovice, . 

Lacy, .     Luke,  .     Dinah, .     Capt.  Luke  Cooley, 

the  father,  died  Jan.  i,  1777.  Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  8, 
1777.  Lois  was  married  to  Nathaniel  Sikes,  of  Monson.  Eunice  was 
married  to  John  Billings.  Joanna  was  married  to  Levi  Brace.  Lovice 
was  married  to  John  Russell.  Lucy  was  married  to  Stephen  Jones. 
Dinah  was  married  to  Aaron  Howard. 

4th  Generation.  ISRAEL  COOLEY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  Cooley, 
was  married  April  9,  1735,  to  Deborah  Leonard.  Their  children — 
Joel,  born  July  n,  1735.  Deborah,  born  Aug.  19,  1738,  died  Sept.  4, 
1746.  Jonah,  born  Nov.  5,  1741.  Israel,  the  father,  died  Dec.  22, 
1775.  Deborah,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  3,  1781.  The  families  of 
Jonah  and  Joel  may  be  seen  hereafter  {page  108]. 

4th  Generation.  SAMUEL  COOLEY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  Cooley, 
was  married  to  Patience  Macranny  ;  date  of  their  publishment  June 
19,  1741.  Their  children — Samuel,  born  Aug.  28,  1742.  Isaac,  born 
May  30,  1745.  Samuel,  the  father,  died  April  10,  1746.  Patience, 
the  mother,  was  married  again  to  Thomas  Killom,  of  West  Springfield, 
Aug.  24,  1749.  (Samuel's  family,  seepage  109.)  Isaac  was  married 
to  Eunice  Bedortha  July  2,  1767.  They  settled  in  West  Springfield. 
•  4th  Generation.  ELI  COOLEY,  son  of  John  and  Mercy  Cooley  [page 
104],  was  married  Oct.  20,  1757,  to  Mary  Phips,  of  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Their  children — Thomas  and  Elenor,  born  June  28,  1758.  Mercy, 
born  Nov.  13,  1760.  Elenor,  born  May  20,  1762,  died  Dec.  20,  1844. 
John,  born  Feb.  18,  1764,  died  Jan.  29,  1835.  Thomas,  born  July  15, 
1767.  Mary,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  14,  1767.  Eli  Cooley,  the  father, 
was  married  again  May  12,  1774,  to  Rebecca  Bliss,  daughter  of  Eben- 
ezer  and  Joanna  Bliss.  She  died  without  issue  Oct.  3,  1787.  Eli 
Cooley  was  married  again,  1796,  to  Polly  Cross,  of  Ellington.  He 
died  Jan.  29,  1806,  aged  in  his  8oth  year.  Mercy  was  married  to 
Richard  Woolworth  May  24,  1780.  Elenor  was  married  to  Dennis 
Crane.  He  being  absent  some  years,  she  was  married  to  George 
Colton  March  9,  1796.  (The  family  of  John,  seepage  109.) 

5th  Generation.  JOHN  COOLEY,  son  of  Caleb  and  Mary,  was  mar- 
ried to  Sabrea  Hitchcock,  the  daughter  of  Stephen  Hitchcock,  of 
Springfield,  March  2,  1797.  He  died  Oct.  3,  1827,  aged  66.  She  died 
Dec.  19,  1841,  aged  71.  Their  children — John,  born  Dec.  9,  1800. 
Clarinda,  born  Jan.  i.  1805,  married  Joseph  Evarts  Jan.  i,  1829. 
Oliver  Blanchard,  born  Oct.  4,  1808.  Mary  Burt,  born  Oct.  10,  1814. 
A  nameless  child  born  Oct.  6,  1810.  Sabrea,  the  mother,  died  Dec. 
19,  1841,  aged  71.  [Vacant  to  page  106.] 


54 

5th  Generation.  STEPHEN  COOLEY,  son  of  Stephen  and  Mary 
Cooley,  was  married  to  Mercy  Stebbins,  daughter  of  Ezra  and  Mar- 
garet Stebbins,  Jan.  28,  1788.  Their  children — Stephen,  born  March 
7,  1789,  died  June  28,  1826,  at  Rossville,  Ohio.  Judah,  born  April  9, 
1792.  Noadiah,  born  Oct.  5,  1795,  went  away  about  1836.  Norman, 
born  Jan.  3,  1800,  lived  in  Philadelphia.  Mercy,  the  mother,  died 
Nov.  4,  1807.  Stephen  Cooley  died  June  9,  1830,  aged  75.  Stephen 
Cooley  was  married  to  Margaret  Stebbins,  widow  of  Ezra  Stebbins. 
She  died  Oct.  15,  1831,  aged  67. 

5th  Generation.  GIDEON  COOLEY,  son  of  Stephen  and  Mary  Cooley, 
was  married  to  Dinah  Sikes,  the  daughter  of  James  and  Mary  Sikes, 
She  was  born  Nov.  13,  1765.  They  were  married  Nov.  29,  1798.  He 
died  Nov.  21,  1838,  aged  76.  She  died  Jan.  i,  1851,  aged  86.  Electa, 
born  Sept.  9,  1799,  married  Joseph  Hixon.  Quartus,  born  Sept.  9, 
1801,  married  Abigail  Bliss.  Gideon,  born  Sept.  27,  1804.  Mary 
Ely,  born  Sept.  7,  1806. 

5th  Generation.  CALVIN  COOLEY,  son  of  Stephen  and  Mary  Cooley, 
was  married  June  17,  1790,  to  Eunice  Warriner,  of  West  Springfield. 
He  died  Feb.  19,  1846,  age  81.  She  died  Oct.  30,  1842,  age  77. 
James,  born  April  7,  1791.  Eunice,  born  March  21,  1794.  Loice, 
born  Feb.  18,  1798.  Calvin,  born  July  14,  1799,  died  March  13,  1867, 
age  67.  Mary,  born  Nov.  u,  1804,  died  Sept.  4,  1808.  Lewis,  born 
Jan.  28,  1806,  died  Sept.  4,  1808.  Alfred,  born  Sept.  i,  1807.  Lewis, 
born  Dec.  23,  1810,  and  died  Jan.  25,  1811.  Dinah  Warriner,  sister 
of  Calvin  Cooley's  wife,  died  June  26,  1833,  aged  72.  Eunice  married 
Diamond  Colton.  Loice  married  Wm.  White. 

5th  Generation.  HANAN  COOLEY,  son  of  Stephen  and  Mary  Cooley 
\page  107],  was  married  Dec.  19,  1799,  to  Sarah  Booth,  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Dorothy  Booth,  of  Enfield.  She  was  born  Dec.  5,  1780. 
Their  children — Henry  Booth,  born  Dec.  5,  1801.  Lucina,  born  Dec. 
18,  1803.  Ethan,  born  March  2,  '1806.  Emeline,  born  Feb.  12, 
1808. 

6th  Generation.  ALFORD  COOLEY,  son  of  Calvin  and  Eunice  Cooley, 
was  married  Nov.  14,  1833,  to  Caroline  Bliss  Saxton,  daughter  of  Noah 
and  Martha  Bliss  Saxton,  of  Wilbraham.  Their  children — Caroline 
Louisa,  born  April  21,  1835.  Martha  Bliss,  born  Sept.  2,  1836.  James 
Calvin,  born  Nov.  5,  1838.  Noah  Saxton,  born  Feb.  9,  1842.  Mary 
Ella,  born  April  i,  1847. 

5th  Generation.  JOSIAH  COOLEY,  son  of  Josiah  and  Experience 
Cooley  \_page  108],  was  married  March  13,  1777,  to  Abiel  Bliss,  daugh- 
ter of  Col.  John  Bliss  and  Abiel,  his  wife,  of  Wilbraham.  He  died 
Feb.  13,  1824,  aged  74.  She  died  July  8,  1830,  aged  72.  Their  chil- 
dren— Rebecca,  born  Jan.  7,  1778,  died  at  Granville.  John  Bliss,  born 
April  17,  1781,  died  Sept.  7,  1786.  Sylva,  born  March  14,  1785,  died 
at  Pittsfield.  Lydia,  born  Aug.  2,  1787,  died  July  31,  1823,  age  36. 
Lucy,  born  Dec.  12,  1789.  John  Bliss,  born  Nov.  3,  1793,  died  Nov. 
4,  1858,  at  Wilbraham.  Eliza,  born  June  2,  1799,  died  Oct.  3,  1851, 
at  Brookfield.  Harriet,  born  Dec.  19,  1802.  Rebecca  was  married 


55 

June  22,  1800,  to  Hezekiah  Robinson,  of  Granville.  Sylva  was  mar- 
ried, Jan.  22,  1806,  to  Ambros  Collins.  Lucy  married  Luther  Colton 
Dec.  17,  1809.  Harriet  married  G.  Olcott  Bliss  May  21,  1828.  Eliza 
married  Aaron  Kimball,  of  Brookfield,  April,  1829. 

5th  Generation.  JOEL  COOLEY,  son  of  Israel  and  Deborah  Cooley, 
was  married  to  Sarah  Olcott,  date  of  their  publishment  July  4,  1755! 
Their  children— Levi,  born  Feb.  12,  1756.  Lucy,  born  fan.  8,  1759. 
Levi,  born  Nov.  1761.  Deborah,  born  June  21,1764.  Gad,  born 

Jan.  25,  1767.  Walter,  born .  Sally,  born .  )oel  Cooley, 

with  his  family,  removed  to  Charlestown,  State  of  New  Hampshire. 

5th  Generation.  JONAH  COOLEY,  son  of  Israel  and  Deborah,  was 
married  to  Experience  Hale,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Hale. 
They  had  one  child — Experience,  born  Nov.  9,  1780.  Experience, 
the  mother,  died  May  8,  1782.  Jonah  Cooley  married  again  to  Abi- 
gail Keep,  daughter  of  Mathew  and  Abigail  Keep,  published  Feb.  8, 
1783.  Their  children — Nabby,  born  Dec.  18,  1783.  Jonah,  born 
March  31,  1785.  Leonard,  born  Oct.  10,  1786.  Ethan,  born  Sept. 
16,  1788.  Deborah,  born  Oct.  1790.  Israel,  born  Dec.  1792.  Jonah 
Cooley,  with  his  family,  removed  to  Vershire,  State  of  Vermont. 

5th  Generation.  SAMUEL  COOLEY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Patience 
Cooley  [page  109],  was  married  to  Experience  Tubbs,  of  Middletown, 
published  Nov.  2,  1765.  •  Their  children — Samuel,  born  July  12,  1766. 
Theodocia,  born  March  28,  1768,  died  May  21,  1807.  Simeon,  born 
May  31,  1770.  William,  born  Nov.  19,  1775.  Theodocia  married 
Samuel  Coomes,  son  of  Samuel,  July  20,  1792.  Samuel,  the  father, 
died  in  the  American  War  with  Great  Britain,  Sept.  4,  1777,  at  Albany. 
Experience,  the  mother  died  Sept.  26,  1778.  (The  family  of  Simeon 
see  below  on  this  page.)  Lydia  and  Stillborn,  Dec.  30.  Lydia  bap- 
tized Jan.  3,  1773,  died  March  20,  1776. 

5th  Generation.  JOHN  COOLEY,  son  of  Eli  and  Mary  Cooley,  was 
married  Tan.  9,  1788,  to  Martha  Lancton,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah 
Lancton,  of  West  Springfield.  Their  children — Hervy,  born  June  26, 
1792.  Mercy,  born  Jan.  16,  1794,  died  May  23.  1812.  Polly,  born 
July  i,  1796.  Betsey,  born  Aug.  31,  1798.  Walter,  born  Feb.  i, 
1804,  died  June  13,  1811.  Jerusha,  born  Oct.  8,  1809.  Martha,  the 
mother,  died  March  9,  1813,  age  45.  John  Cooley  died  Jan.  29, 
J835,  age  71  years. 

6th  Generation.  SIMEON  COOLEY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Experience  Cooley,  was  married,  1805,  to  Sirviah,  who  had  been 
the  wife  of  Luther  Lyman,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Williams 
Corkins,  of  Stafford,  and  Elisabeth,  his  wife.  She  died  July  21,  1862, 
aged  82.  Their  children — Samuel,  born  Jan.  26,  1806.  Theodocia, 
born  Dec.  2,  1807.  William,  born  Jan.  22,  1810.  Simeon,  born  Oct. 
8,  1815,  died  Jan.  15,  1816.  A  child  born  March  19,  1820,  no  name 
given  it,  died  March  31,  1820.  Emily,  born  Oct.  20,  1816.  Harriet, 
born  June  22,  1822.  [Vacant  to  page  LII.] 

6th  Generation.  JOSEPH  WHITING  COOLEY,  son  of  Joseph  Cooley 
and  Jerusha,  his  wife,  of  Somers,  the  grandson  of  George  Cooley,  and 


56 

great-grandson  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Cooley  [page  98],  who  removed 
from  Longmeadow  to  Somers.  He  was  married  April,  1787,  to  Flavia 
Cooley,  the  daughter  of  Hezekiah  and  Charity  Cooley.  He  was  born 
Sept.  12, 1767.  Their  children — Jerusha,  born  Dec.  3,  1787.  Jerusha, 
born  March  24,  1790.  Whiting,  born  May  20,  1792.  Flavia,  born 
June  fj,  1794,  died  Jan.  18.  1820.  Cyrus  and  Venus,  born  Aug.  n, 
1796.  Venus  died  June  n,  1829.  Joseph  Cooley,  the  father,  died 
May  31,  1841,  aged  74.  Flavia,  the  mother,  died  Feb.  16,  1844,  aged 
82.  [Vacant  to  page  1 1 6.] 

SAMUEL  COOMES,  son  of  Richard  and  Hepsibah  Coomes,  was  born 
Jan.  26,  1730,  was  married  May  18,  1761,  to  Miriam  Hale,  daughter 
of  Noah  and  Miriam  Hale.  Their  children — Samuel,  born  Aug.  30, 
1761,  died  June  9,  1816.  Silence,  born  Jan.  22,  1765,  died  Jan.  27  of 
the  same  year,  1765.  Walter,  bom  April  23,  1766,  died  Dec.  25,  1842, 
aged  77.  Silence,  born  April  17,  1768,  died  Nov.  7,  1845,  age  77. 
Noah,  born  Aug.  3,  1770,  died  May  13,  1805.  Achsa,  born  March  10, 
1773,  died  Oct.  3.  1807.  Moses  Newel,  born  July  16,  1775,  died  July 
10, 1777.  Moses  Newel,  born  Dec.  9,  1777,  died  May  28,  1840,  age  62. 
Miriam,  born  Nov.  6,  1782,  died  April  25,  1796.  Samuel,  the  father,  died 
Dec.  17,  1795,  in  his  66th  year.  The  mother  died  April  25,  1796,  in 
her  56th  year. 

SAMUEL  COOMES,  son  of  Samuel  and  Miriam  Coomes,  was  married 
July  20,  1792,  to  Theodocia  Cooley,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Experi- 
ence Cooley.  Their  children — Maria,  born  Nov.  20,  1793,  died  Aug. 
26,  1794.  Maria,  born  July  8,  1796.  Experience  Cooley,  born  June 
24,  1801.  Theodocia,  the  mother,  died  May  21,  1807.  June  10,  1807, 
the  father  wished  his  second  Maria  to  have  an  addition  of  Theodocia 
Cooley  to  her  name,  to  bear  the  name  of  her  mother.  Samuel  Cooley 
died  June  9,  1816. 

WALTER  COOMES,  son  of  Samuel  and  Miriam  Coomes,  was  married 
Jan.  6,  1790,  to  Flavia  Colton,  daughter  of  Festus  and  Eunice  Colton. 
Their  children — Sally,  born  Oct.  6,  1790,  died  Nov.  15,  1794.  Mir- 
iam, born  Feb.  i,  1793.  Sally,  borti  Feb.  18,  1796.  Walter,  born 
Jan.  2,  1798,  died  June  5,  1843,  aged  45.  Flavia,  their  mother,  died 
Aug.  16,  1799.  Walter,  the  father,  was  married  again  Dec.  4,  1799,  to 
Abigail  Skinner  of  East  Windsor.  Their  children — Chauncy  Bliss, 
born  Jan.  i,  1801.  Flavia  Colton,  born  April  25,  1803.  Samuel  Skin- 
ner, born  Jan.  12,  1805,  died  Dec.  16,  1866.  Achsa,  born  Aug.  16, 
1807.  Lucinda,  born  May  12,  1809.  Aurelia  B.,  born  Dec.  2,  1815, 
died  Nov.  i,  1835.  The  father  died  Dec.  25,  1842. 

NOAH  COOMES,  son  of  Samuel  and  Miriam  Coomes  [page  117],  was 
married  Jan.  13,  1799,  to  Mary  Colton,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary 
Colton.  Their  children — Samuel  Hale,  born  Oct.  25,  1799.  Henry 
Burt,  born  Dec.  4,  1800.  William,  born  Oct.  29,  1803.  Walter,  born 
Oct.  19,  1804.  Mary,  born  Jan.  12,  1806.  Noah  Coomes,  the  father, 
with  his  wife,  removed  to  a  place  called  Aurelius,  in  the  county  of 
Cayuga,  State  of  New  York,  where  all  his  children  were  born,  except 
the  youngest,  and  where  he  died  May  13,  1805. 


57 

JOHN  COOMES,  son  of  John  and  Midwell  Coomes,  of  Enfield,  and 
grandson  of  Richard  and  Hepsibah  Coomes,  was  born  Dec.  22,  1762, 
was  married  Feb.  23,  1784,  to  Joanna  Colton,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Deborah  Colton.  Their  children — Horrace,  born  April  5,  1784. 
Dolly,  born  Aug.  9,  1786.  Fannie,  born  Feb.  17,  1789.  John,  born 
April  10,  1792,  died  Sept.  23,  1820,  age  28.  James,  born  June  26, 
1794,  died  April  4,  1867,  age  73.  Alexander,  born  June  18,  1796. 
Dinah,  born  April  21,  1799.  Bela,  born  March  14,  1802.  Elias,  born 
April  26,  1806.  Lucy  D.,  born  April  18,  1811.  Fannie  was  married 
May  1 8,  1809,  to  Carlos  Nichols,  of  West  Springfield. 

HORATIO  COOMES,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and  Joanna  Coomes 
[page  118],  was  married  Aug.  20,  1807,  to  Ansa  B.  Amadon  of  Wil- 
braham.  Their  children — Horatio,  born  Oct.  31,  1807.  Edmund, 
born  Oct.  12,  1809.  Hannah  Coomes,  born  Jan.  19,  1812,  died 
Oct.  6,  1814.  Alanzo  Coomes,  born  May  28,  1814.  Hannah,  born 
Aug.  i,  1816,  died  Sept.  19,  1839.  Nathaniel,  born  April  i,  1819. 
Delia,  born  May  i,  1821.  John  Dickenson  Dudley,  born  Aug.  24,  1823. 
Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  1825,  died  March  10,  1832.  Charlott  and 
George,  born  Aug.  5,  1828.  Adeline,  born  Oct.  28,  1830. 

ISAAC  CORKINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  Williams  Corkins 
and  Elisabeth,  his  wife,  of  Stafford,  was  married  Oct.  18,  1801,  to 
Abigail  Hale,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Ann  Hale.  Their  children — 
Lovice,  born  Sept.  10,  1803,  married  James  Colton.  Abigail,  born 
Nov.  22,  1806.  Isaac,  born  Oct.  30,  1809.  Reuben,  born  Feb.  21, 
1813.  Henry  Sexton,  born  Feb.  13,  1816.  Emeline  Calkins,  born 
Sept.  10,  1818.  Eliza  Ann  Calkins,  born  Jan.  15,  1821.  William, 
born  Sept.  9,  1824. 

AARON  CRANE,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Hezekiah  and  Rachel 
Crane,  of  East  Windsor,  was  born  May  8,  1756;  was  married  June 
1 6,  1778,  to  Mary  Barber,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Jane  Barber. 
She  was  born  Aug.  14,  1754.  Their  children— Polly,  born  May  16, 
1779.  Aaron,  born  March  24,  1781.  Timothy,  born  Jan.  28,  1783. 
Ziba,  born  March  16,  1785.  Eli,  born  Aug.  3,  1787.  Jane,  born 
Dec.  24,  1789.  Lucina,  born  Aug.  19,  1792.  Elihu,  born  Nov.  17, 
1794.  Hezekiah,  born  Feb.  i,  1797.  Almira,  born  July  18,  1799, 
died  Sept.  6,  1808.  Aaron,  the  father,  died  July  3,  1826,  age  70. 

EDWARD  CRANDOL,  son  of  Peter  and  -  — ,  of  Enfield  [page 
1 19],  was  married  April  7, 1757,  to  Dorcas  Bement,  daughter  of  Jonathan 

and ,  of  Enfield.  Their  children— Edward,  baptised  May  15, 

1757,  died  July  2,  1757.  Lucy,  born  May  21,  1758,  died  April  12, 
1759.  Levi,  born  Feb.  i,  1760.  Lucy,  born  April  10,  1762,  died 
Jan.  22,  1831,  age  69.  Stillborn  child,  May  4,  1765.  Simeon,  bom 
May  20,  1766.  Mary,  born  Nov.  20,  1768.  Sarah,  born  March  5. 
177^1.  Asenah,  born  Aug.  17,  1773.  Dorcas,  the  mother,  died  Dec. 
29,  1779.  Edward,  the  father,  married  again  to  Sarah  Brown,  of 
Coventry;  he  removed  to  that  town;  they  had  one  child  named 
Ethan,  born  Aug.  1786.  Edward,  the  father,  died  May,  1788. 

LEVI  CRANDOL,  son  of  Edward  and  Dorcas  Crandol,  was  married 
8 


58 

Jan.  27,  1791,  to  Aphia  Lad,  of  Franklin,  Connecticut.  He  died 
Nov.  22,  1840.  She  died  Feb.  i,  1835.  Their  children — Oliva,  born 
Nov.  27,  1791,  died  Feb.  10,  1838,  age  46.  Edward,  born  July  4, 
1794,  drowned  June  26,  1821.  Simeon  and  Levi,  born  Sept.  23,  1796. 
Simeon  died  May  14,  1798.  Levi  died  April  27,  1788.  Levi.  born 
June  3,  1799.  Sally,  May  30,  1801. 

ELIHU  DWIGHT,  son  of  Capt.  Samuel  Dwight  [fage  120],  was  born 
March  22,  1730,  and  was  married  to  Eunice  Horton,  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  Horton,  of  Springfield.  Their  children — Oliver,  born 
April  14,  1769,  died  Aug.  17,  1825.  John,  born  July  12,  1767,  died 
May  23,  1812.  Eunice,  born  April  15,  1761.  Mary,  born  Jan.  31, 
1763.  Lucy,  born  Sept.  10,  1764.  Eunice,  the  mother,  died  May  16, 
1801.  Polly  was  married  to  Benjamin  Powel,  July  9,  1788.  Elihu 
Dwight,  the  father,  died  Dec.  19,  1810,  aged  80  years. 

OLIVER  DWIGHT,  son  of  Elihu  and  Eunice,  was  married  July  2, 
1797,  to  Mehittable  Keep,  daughter  of  Mathew  and  Mehittable  Keep. 
Their  children — Mehittable,  born  Jan.  5,  1798.  Oliver,  born  Aug. 

28,  1799.     Daniel,  born  April  22,  1802.     John,  born  Sept.  10,  1803. 
Eunice,  born  April  6,  1807,  died  Sept.  29,  1813.     Henry,  born  Feb. 
27,  1810.     Norman  Dwight,  born   Jan.  30,   1815.     Oliver,  the  father, 
died  Aug.  17,  1825.     [Vacant  to  page  122.] 

ist  Generation.  NATHANIEL  ELY  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town  of  Springfield  ;  he  is  said  to  have  come  from 
England,  and  first  to  have  settled  in  the  town  of ,  in  the  south- 
western part  of  Connecticut,  and  from  thence  to  have  removed  to 
Springfield.  The  time  of  his  death,  as  recorded,  is  Dec.  25,  1675. 
The  widow,  Martha  Ely,  died  Oct.  23,  1683, — supposed  to  have  been 
his  widow.  The  only  child  of  Nathaniel  at  present  known  of,  was 
Samuel,  probably  born  before  they  came  to  Springfield.  It  further 
appears  from  records,  that  Ruth  Ely,  probably  daughter  of  Nathaniel, 
was  married  to  Jeremy  Horton,  Oct.  3,  1661,  and  had  one  son, 
Nathaniel  Horton,  who  settled  in  Enfield  or  Somers ;  he  was  born 
June  29,  1662.  Ruth,  the  mother,  died  Oct.  12,  1662. 

2d  Generation.  SAMUEL  ELY,  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Martha,  as 
is  supposed,  was  married  to  Mary  Day,  the  28th  day  of  the  8th 
month,  1659.  Their  children,  as  recorded,  were — Samuel,  born  i 
day,  i  month,  1662,  died  22  day,  i  month,  1662.  Joseph,  born  Aug. 
2,  1663.  Samuel,  born  Nov.  4,  1664,  died  Feb.  18,  1665.  Mary, 
born  March  29,  1667,  died  April  19,  1667.  Samuel,  born  May  9, 
1668.  Nathaniel,  born  Jan.  18,  1670,  died  March  16,  1671.  Jona- 
than, born  July  i,  1672,  died  July  10,  1672.  Nathaniel,  born  Aug. 
25,  1674,  died  May,  1689.  Jonathan,  born  Jan.  24,  1676,  died  Feb. 
27,  1676.  Martha,  born  Oct.  28,  1677,  died  Nov.  25,  1677.  John, 
born  Jan.  28,  1679.  Mary,  born  June  20,  1681,  died  Dec.  21,  1681. 
Jonathan,  born  Jan.  21,  1683,  died  July  27,  1753.  Mary,  born  Feb. 

29,  1685.     Ruth,  born  1688.     Samuel  FAy,  the  father,  died  March  17, 
1692.     Joseph,  Samuel,  and  John,  had  families,  and  settled  in  West 
Springfield.     Jonathan    settled  in  Longmeadow.     Mary,  the  widow, 


59 

was  married  April  12,  1694,  to  Thomas  Stebbins,  son  of  Thomas  and 
Hannah  Stebbins;  he  dying  Dec.  7,  1695,  she,  the  widow,  Mary  Steb- 
bins, was  married  Dec.  16,  1696,  to  John  Coleman. 

3d  Generation.  JOSEPH  ELY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary,  married 

Mary .  Their  children— Joseph,  born  April  9,  1686.  Mary, 

born  July  25,  1689.  Martha,  born  July  16,  1691.  Nathaniel,  born 
Oct.  21,  1694.  Ruth,  born  Oct.  20,  1697.  John,  born  March  17,  1701. 
Sarah,  born  Jan.  8,  1704.  John,  born  June  19,  1706. 

3d  Generation.  SAMUEL  ELY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  {page 
123],  was  married  to  Martha  Bliss,  daughter  of  Samuel  Bliss',  senior, 
and  Mary  his  wife  (they  were  married  Nov.  10,  1697).  Their 
children — Martha,  born  Dec.  21,  1698.  Mary,  born  Feb.  14,  1700. 
Samuel,  born  Sept.  21,  1701.  Martha,  the  mother,  died  July  6,  1702. 
Samuel,  the  father,  was  married  again  Dec.  7,  1704,  Sarah  Bodortha. 
Their  children — Sarah,  born  Aug.  30,  1705,  died  Jan.  5,  1789. 
Nathaniel,  born  Sept.  22,  1706.  Joseph,  born  Oct.  4,  1709.  Try- 
phene,  born  April  7,  1712.  Levi,  born  Feb.  12,  1715.  Mary,  April 

5.   r7i7- 

3d  Generation.  JOHN  ELY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  Ely,  was 
married  Dec.  30,  1703,  to  Mercy  Bliss,  daughter  of  Samuel,  senior, 
and  Mary  Bliss.  Their  children — Abel,  born  Nov.  18,  1706.  John, 
born  Dec.  3,  1707,  died  May  22,  1754.  Reuben,  born  Jan.  12,  1710. 
Abner,  born  Sept.  26,  1711.  Mercy,  born  Jan.  22,  1713.  Caleb, 
born  Nov.  25,  1714.  Rachel,  born  Nov.  n,  1716.  Noah,  born  July 
4,  1721. 

3d  Generation.  DEA.  JONATHAN  ELY,  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
{page  124],  was  married  to  Lydia  Burt,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and 
Lydia  Burt,  March  16,  1709.  Their  children — Lydia,  born  May  25, 
1710,  died  Jan.  2,  1745.  Elisabeth,  born  Nov.  30,  1711,  died  Oct. 
10,  1808.  Jonathan,  born  July  24,  1714,  died  Dec.  29,  1812. 
Nathaniel,  born  Sept.  i,  1716,  died  Dec.  26,  1799.  Mary,  born 
Sept.  14,  1719,  died  Nov.  24,  1797.  Lydia  was  married  to  Jonathan 
Hale,  Dec,  29,  1736.  Elisabeth  was  married  to  Jonathan  Ferry, 
published  April  7,  1739.  Mary  married  Dea.  Aaron  Colton,  Nov.  27, 
1746.  Dea.  Jonathan  Ely,  the  father,  died  July  27,  1753.  Lydia,  the 
mother,  Dec.  14,  1767. 

4th  Generation.  JOHN  ELY,  son  of  John  and  Mercy  Ely,  was  mar- 
ried Nov.  15,  1733,  to  Eunice  Colton,  daughter  of  John  and  Joanna 
Colton.  Their  children— John,  born  April  6,  1735.  Eunice,  born 
Jan.  19,  1737,  died  Aug.  27,  1738.  Justin,  born  Aug.  10,  1739. 
Eunice,  born  Aug.  31,  1741.  Heman,  born  Jan.  8,  1744,  died  May 
9,  1754.  Rhoda,  born  May  12,  1746,  «lied  March  5,  1786.  Amelia, 
born  Dec.  26,  1750,  died  April  28,  ij&6.  Eunice  married  the  Hon. 
Roger  Newberry,  of  Windsor.  Rhoda  married  the  Rev.  George 
Colton,  of  Bolton,  Oct.  7,  1766.  Amelia  married  Doctor  Jeremiah 
West,  of  Tolland,  Feb.  8,  1781.  John,  the  father,  died  May  22,  1754. 
Eunice,  the  mother,  was  married  again  June  19,  1759,  to  Roger  AVol- 
cott,  Esq.,  of  East  Windsor;  after  his  death;  she  was  married  again 


6o 

• 

April  8,  1761,  to  Joel  White,  Esq.,  of  Bolton,  and  died  March  30, 
1778.  This  family  lived  in  W.  Springfield. 

4th  Generation.  JONATHAN  ELY,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Dea. 
Jonathan  and  Lydia,  of  Longmeadow,  was  married  to  Esther  Chapin, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Esther  Chapin  ;  date  of  their  publishment, 
Oct.  18,  1740.  Their  children — Jonathan,  born  Sept.  14,  1741. 

Lydia,  born  March  22,  1744.     Esther,  born  : .     Jonathan,  born 

Oct.  i,  1746.  Mercy,  born  Sept.  7,  1748.  Lydia,  born  April  n, 
1751.  Judah,  born  June  24,  1753.  Henry,  born  May  15,  1755. 
Elisabeth,  born  -  — .  Jonathan  Ely,  the  father,  died  Dec.  29,  1812. 

4th  Generation.  DEA.  NATHANIEL  ELY,  son  of  Dea.  Jonathan  Ely 
and  Lydia,  his  wife  [page  125],  was  married  Dec.  7,  1745,  to  Mary 
Estabrook,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Estabrook,  of  Canterbury, 
Conn.,  and  Rebecca  his  wife.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  Oct.  31, 
1746,  died  Aug.  4,  1750.  Lydia,  born  June  2,  1748,  died  Feb.  19, 
1781.  Mary,  born  April  7,  1750,  died  Aug.  19,  1750.  Nathaniel, 
born  May  31,  1751,  died  June  18,  1808.  Samuel,  born  June  28,  1753, 
died  Nov.  22,  1774.  Sarah,  born  Aug.  12,  1755,  died  Dec.  12,  1777. 
Ethan,  born  Oct.  15,  1757,  died  May  30,  1758.  Mary,  the  mother, 
died  Jan.  13,  1759,  age1  41  years.  Deacon  Ely,  the  father,  was  mar- 
ried again  April  9,  1761,  to  Abigail  Colton,  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  Colton.  Their  children — Abigail,  born  Jan.  7,  1762.  Ethan, 
born  Feb.  13,  1764,  died  May  13,  1848,  age  84.  William,  born  Aug. 
14,  1765.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  22,  1770,  in  her  46th  year. 
Dea.  Ely  was  married  again  April  3,  1777,  to  Beulah  Colton,  daughter 
of  Capt.  Isaac  Colton.  She  died  April  24,  1786.  Dea.  Ely  was  mar- 
ried again  Nov.  15,  1787,  to  Martha  Raynolds,  the  widow  of  Dr.  Samuel 
Raynolds,  Esq.,  and  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  D.D., 
and  Abigail,  his  wife.  She  died  Feb.  18,  1825,  age  92.  Dea.  Ely, 
the  father,  died  Dec.  26,  1799,  in  his  84th  year.  Lydia  married  David 
White,  of  Longmeadow,  Jan.  30,  1777.  Samuel  was  educated  at  Yale 
College,  graduated  A.D.  1772,  and  died  in  a  single  state.  Abigail 
married  Elihu  Colton,  Dec.  6,  1787.  William  was  educated  at  Yale 
College,  graduated  A.D.  1787,  settled  at  Springfield,  in  practice  of 
law. 

5th  Generation.  DEA.  NATHANIEL  ELY,  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely 
and  Mary  his  wife  [page  126],  was  married  Feb.  16,  1786,  to  Elisabeth 
Raynolds,  daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Raynolds,  Esq.,  of  Somers,  and 
Martha  his  wife.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Feb.  4,  1787,  died 
Dec.  15,  1842.  Samuel,  born  Aug.  5,  1789,  died  May  14,  1797. 
Elisabeth,  born  Nov.  7,  1790.  Beulah,  born  April  24,  1792,  died 
Dec.  1838.  Martha,  born  Dec.  15,  1795.  ^ea-  Nathaniel  Ely,  the 
father,  died  June  18,  1808.  Mary,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan.  14, 
1812,  to  Capt.  David  Mack.  Beulah  was  married  Dec.  10,  1811,  to 
Timothy  Goodwin  of  Symsbury. 

5th  Generation.  CAPT.  ETHAN  ELY,  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely  and 
Abigail,  his  second  wife,  was  married  Jan.  6,  1791,  to  Hannah  Burt, 
the  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Hannah  Burt.  She  died  Dec.  24,  1829, 


6i 

age  66.  Their  children—  Ethan,  born  Nov.  24,  1791.  Hannah,  born 
Feb.  8,  1793.  Abigail,  born  Dec.  20,  1794,  died  April  26,  1826. 
Sarah,  born  Sept.  8,  1796.  Jonathan,  born  June  10,  1798,  died  June 
8,  1847.  Hannah,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  24,  1829.  Ethan  Ely  died 
May  13,  1848,  age  84  years. 

ETHAN  ELY,  son  of  Ethan  and  Hannah  Ely,  was  married  October 
13,  1831,  to  Ann  Cooley,  daughter  of  Seth  and  Ann  Cooley  his  wife. 
Ann,  the  wife  of  Ethan  Ely,  was  born  May  14,  1806,  died  May  26, 
1835.  Ethan  Cooley,  son  of  Ethan  and  Ann  Ely,  was  born  May  17, 


ETHAN  C.  ELY,  son  of  Ethan  and  Ann  Ely  his  wife,  was  married 
Sept.  i,  1857,  to  Charity  Bush,  daughter  of  Levi  Bush,  of  Westfield, 
born  Aug.  14,  1836.  Their  children  —  Mason  Warren,  born  Sept.  26, 
1858.  Ethan  Cooley,  born  Oct.  3,  1861,  died  Aug.  6,  1862.  [Vacant 
to  page  128.] 

HERYY  ELLIS,  son  of  Lieut.  -  Ellis,  formerly  of  Stafford,  but 
last  of  Monson,  was  married  Jan.  8,  1802,  to  Jerusha  Spencer,  daugh- 
ter of  Israel  and  Ruth  Spencer  [see  page  195].  Their  children  — 
Hervy,  born  Aug.  4,  1802.  Jerusha,  born  Aug.  4,  1805.  Jerusha 
Ellis  died  Oct.  5,  1834,  aged  55.  Hervy,  the  father,  died  Nov.  3, 
1810. 

EDMUND  EVARTS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Abigail 
Evarts,  of  Gilford,  Conn.,  was  born  Aug.  22,  1771,  was  married  Oct. 
9,  1796,  to  Annis  Booth,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Booth,  of 
Knfield.  Their  children  —  Mary,  born  Nov.  4,  1799,  died  Feb.  17, 
1875.  Nancy,  born  July  31,  1801,  died  April  4,  1825.  Joseph,  born 
June  18,  1804,  died  Nov.  i,  1874.  Nancy  was  married  Dec.  30,  1823, 
to  Jacob  Colton,  born  Sept.  10,  1799.  Edmund  Evarts  died  April  22, 
1849,  aged  77-  Annis  Evarts  died  Jan.  1847,  age  80. 

THOMAS  FIELD,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Field,  of  Hatfield  [page 
129],  was  married  Oct.  21,  1713,  to  Abigail  Dickinson,  of  Springfield, 
daughter  of  Hezekiah  and  Abigail  B.  Dickinson,  born  Dec.  8,  1692, 
died  June  20,  1775,  age  ^3-  Their  children  —  Abigail,  born  Oct.  5, 
1714,  died  Aug.  8,  1777,  age  63  years.  Samuel,  born  May  10,  1718, 
died  Aug.  10,  1721.  Moses,  born  Feb.  16,  1722,  died  March  7,  1815. 
Samuel,  born  Oct.  10,  1725.  Sarah,  born  Nov.  28,  1728,  died  April 
J9»  X773-  Simeon,  born  April  25,  1731,  died  Jan.  7,  1801.  Thomas 
Field,  the  father,  at  first  settled  in  Hatfield,  where  his  children  were 
born,  except  Simeon,  who  was  born  in  Longmeadow.  He  died  Feb. 
i,  1747,  age  66  years.  Abigail  was  married  Nov.  14,  i754>  to  Abiel 
Abbot,  of  Windsor,  and  died,  without  issue,  in  Longmeadow.  Samuel 
was  educated  at  Yale  College,  graduated  1745,  and  settled  in  Sea- 
brook,  Conn.,  in  the  practice  of  physic.  Simeon  settled  at  Enfield, 
in  the  practice  of  physic. 

CAPT.  MOSES  FIELD,  son  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Field,  was  married 
Sept.  15,  1748,  to  Rebecca  Cooley,  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  and 
Joanna  Cooley.  Their  children—  Rebecca,  born  Nov.  29,  1748,  'died 
Dec.  26,  1836.  Elijah,  born  Dec.  23,  1750,  died  Dec.  31,  1767. 


62 

Oliver,  born  Nov.  15,  1752,  died  Jan.  15,  1801.  Moses,  born  Feb.  9, 
1755,  died  Jan.  14,  1831.  Diademia,  born  Oct.  9,  1756.  Aaron,  born 
June  24,  1759,  died  Aug.  30,  1760.  Aaron,  born  June  24,  1761. 
Alexander,  born  Feb.  5,  1764,  died  June  8,  1831.  Sarah,  born  Feb. 

24,  1766,  died  July  12,   1777.     Naomy,  born   May  22,  died  July  31, 
1777.     Rebecca  was  married  to  Azariah  Woolworth,  Nov.  25,  1773. 
Oliver  was  married   to   Ann   Cooley,  daughter  of  Caleb   and   Mary 
Cooley,   Nov.  4,    1773.     Moses  married  Lydia  Champion,   daughter 
of  Dr.  Reuben  Champion  and  Lydia  his  wife,  of  West  Springfield, 
Nov.  23,  1780.     Diademia  married  Stephen  Williams,  March  4,  1778. 
He  leaving  her,  she  married  again  to  Jacob  Kibbe,  of  Monson,  June 

25,  1793,  and  died  in  that  town.     Aaron  studied  physic,  married  Flavia 
Burt,  daughter  of  Capt.  David  Burt,  Feb.  10,  1784.     They  settled  at 
Richmond,  and  had  one  child,  Sophia,  born  Dec.  24,  1784.     He  went 
to  the  Southern  States,  and  died.     She  died  at  Longmeadow.     Alex- 
ander married  Flavia  Colton,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Lucy  Colton, 
Oct.   n,   1787.     Rebecca,   the  mother,    died    Feb.   24,   1783.     Capt. 
Moses  Field  married  again  Nov.  i,  1783,  to  Lydia  Champion,  widow 
of  Dr.  Reuben  Champion,  of  West  Springfield,  and  she  died  May  i, 
1809.     He  died  March  7,  1815.     Alexander  died  July  8,  1831. 

DR.  SIMEON  FIELD,  son  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Field  [page  130], 
was  married  Dec.  29,  1763,  to  Margaret  Raynolds,  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Peter  Raynolds  and  Elisabeth  his  wife.  Their  children- 
Simeon,  born  June  3,  1765.  Margaret,  born  Feb.  27,  1768.  Mary, 
born  Feb.  22,  1771.  Peter  Raynolds,  born  Feb.  28,  1774.  Edward, 

born  .  Margaret,  the  mother,  died  Feb.  9,  1796,  age  64. 

Dr.  Field,  the  father,  died  Jan.  7,  1801,  age  70.  Simeon,  the  son, 
was  educated  at  Yale  College.  Graduated  1785,  studied  physic,  set- 
tled for  a  term  in  Somers.  Upon  his  father's  decline,  removed  to 

Enfield.  Margaret  married  the  Rev.  Leonard,  of  Ellington. 

He  being  dismissed  from  that  place,  they  removed  to ,  in  the 

State  of  New  York.  Mary Dixon. 

OLIVER  FIELD,  son  of  Capt.  Moses  Field  and  Rebecca,  his  wife, 
was  married  Nov.  4,  1773,  to  Ann  Cooley,  daughter  of  Caleb  and 
Mary  Cooley.  Their  children — Ann,  born  Dec.  3,  1774.  Naomy, 
born  Feb.  27,  1779,  died  Oct.  21,  1807.  Elijah,  born  Dec.  29,  1780. 
Polly,  born  June  20,  1784.  Caleb  Cooley,  born  March  29,  1787. 
John,  born  April  6,  1790;  afterward  took  the  name  of  Moses.  Oliver. 
the  father,  died  Jan.  15,  1801.  Ann,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  23,  1831. 
Ann,  the  daughter,  married  Justin  Smith,  of  Hadleigh,  Jan.  18,  1797. 
Moses  Field  died  Sept.  4,  1861.  Naomy  married  Noah  Ashley.  Aug. 
31,  1798.  Polly  married  Stephen  Ashley,  Sept.  12,  1805.  (&z&  page  $.) 

ELIJAH  FIELD,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Oliver  and  Ann  Field  above, 
was  married  May  8,  1806,  to  Cynthia  Terry,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Asaph  Terry  and  Penelope  his  wife,  of  Enfield.  She  was  born  June 
2,  1787.  Their  children — Naomy,  born  May  29,  1808.  Elijah,  born 
Sept.  13,  1810.  Cynthia,  born  Feb.  24,  1813.  Anna,  born  June  15, 
1815.  Mary  Terry,  born  April  i,  1817.  Cynthia,  the  mother,  died 
1823.  Aaron,  born  July  25,  1819,  died  Aug.  21,  1834. 


63 

MOSES  FIELD,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Capt.  Moses  and  Rebecca 
Field  [page  131],  was  married  Dec.  23,  1780,  to  Lydia  Champion, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Reuben  Champion  and  Lydia  his  wife,  of  West 
Springfield,  but  formerly  of  Seabrook,  Conn.  Moses  Field  died 
Jan.  14,  1831.  Lydia  Field  died  Jan.  19,  1831,  without  issue. 

AARON  FIELD,  son  of  Capt.  Moses  Field  and  Rebecca  his  wife, 
was  married  Feb.  10,  1784,  to  Flavia  Burt,  daughter  of  Capt.  David 
Burt  and  Mary  his  wife.  They  had  one  child,  Sophia,  born  Dec.  24, 
1784.  Flavia,  the  mother,  died  at  Longmeadow,  Aug.  20,  1787. 
Aaron  Field,  the  father,  studied  physic,  and  took  his  station  for  prac- 
tice at  Richmond,  but  failing  in  business,  went  to  the  Southern  States 
and  died. 

ALEXANDER  FIELD,  born  Feb.  5,  1764,  son  of  Moses  and  Rebecca 
Field,  was  married  Oct.  n,  1787,  to  Flavia  Colton  (born  Oct.  i, 
1769),  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Lucy  Colton.  She  died  Aug.  4,  1815. 
He  was  married  March  n,  1816,  to  Jerusha  Burt,  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  Burt  \_page  28].  He  died  July  8,  1831,  aged  67  years. 
[Vacant  to  page  133.] 

JOHN  JENISON  GAYLORD,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Azubeth  Gaylord,  of  Middletown,  was  born  Oct.  10,  1780;  was 
married  May  2,  1805,  to  Fanny  Woolworth,  daughter  of  Azriah  and 
Rebecca  Woolworth ;  removed  to  Stois,  Ohio,  1814.  Their  children — 
Samuel,  born  May  2,  1806.  John  Jenison,  born  March  i,  1808. 
Fanny,  born  Dec.  17,  1810.  Robert,  born  Feb.  8,  1813.  A  nameless 
child,  born  Dec.  27,  1809. 

ERASTUS  GOLDTHWAIT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Thomas  and  Loice 
Goldthwait,  of  Springfield,  was  born  June  6,  1772,  and  was  married 
April  25,  1798,  to  Rhoda  Burt,  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Deborah  Burt. 
Their  children — Flavel,  born  June  12,  1799;  died  at  Hartford. 
Rhoda,  born  Aug.  15,  1801,  and  died  May  8,  1804.  Jonathan  Hale, 
born  March  28,  1804,  died  Feb.  21,  1805.  Rhoda,  the  mother,  died 
April  24,  1804,  and  Lieut.  Erastus  Goldthwait,  the  father,  was  married 
again,  Jan.  14,  1808,  to  Hannah  Colton,  daughter  of  Dea.  William 
and  Hannah  Colton.  Their  children — Rhoda,  born  Jan.  23,  1809. 
Jonathan  Hale,  born  May  21,  1811.  William  Colton,  born  May  i, 
1814.  Erastus  Goldthwait,  died  May  18,  1848. 

DANIEL  GREEN,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Linesford  and  Elisabeth 
Green,  of  Wremtham,  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  was  married 
June  5,  1803,  to  Sarah  Woolworth,  daughter  of  Azariah  and  Rebecca 
Woolworth;  she  died  June  8,  1813,  age  35.  Their  children — Aaron 
Field,  born  Nov.  30,  1806.  Pownel,  born  Oct.  25.  1808.  William, 
born  Nov.  20,  1810.  Daniel  Woolworth,  born  Nov.  25,  1812.  Sarah, 
the  mother,  died  Jan.  8,  1813.  Daniel  Green,  born  March  16,  1827. 

WILLIAM  GOUDY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  -,  of  Enfielcl  [page 

134],  was  married  to  Fanny  Jugram,  of  Suffield.  Their  children- 
Fanny,  born  April  14,  1783.  "William,  born  June  19,  1785.  Porter, 
born  Aug.  5,  1789,  died  July  n,  1824.  Clarissa,  born  Sept.  4,  1792. 
George,  born  May  31,  1795.  Fanny,  the  daughter,  was  married  Oct. 


64 

14,   1807,  to  Abel  Chaffe.     Fanny,  the   mother,  died  Dec.    17,  1811. 
William,  the  father,  died  Dec.  31,  1811.     [Vacant  to  page  138.] 

HALES. 

THOMAS  HALE,  was  an  early  settler  in  Enfield;  he  married  Priscilla 
Markham,  and  died  1725.  His  sons — John,  William,  Joseph,  Samuel, 
Thomas.  Some  one  says  that  Thomas  Hale  was  married  to  Priscilla 
Markham,  in  (quaere,  1675?)  1695,  if  so  neither  Thomas  (below)  nor 
Martha  \_page  26]  could  have  been  a  child  of  that  marriage.  The 
vacant  space  on  this  page  at  the  head  of  the  Hale  family,  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  Mr.  Colton  found  some  stumbling  block  which  he 
hoped  would  be  afterwards  removed. 

THOMAS  HALE,  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Priscilla  Hale,  of  Enfield, 
was  married  Feb.  15,  1705,  to  Experience  Burt,  daughter  of  Nathaniel 
and  Rebecca  Burt.  Their  children — Thomas,  born  Oct.  26,  1705, 
died  Jan.  8,  1797.  John,  born  Feb.  17,  1708,  died  Jan.  13,  1788. 
Noah,  born  Feb.  24,  1710,  died  Dec.  19,  1793.  Jonathan,  born  Feb. 
3,  1712,  died  Dec.  n,  1793.  Experience,  born  June  27,  1714,  died 
Oct.  31,  1798.  Rebecca,  born  Feb.  21,  1717,  died  July  21,  1803. 
Hezekiah,  born  Sept.  4,  1719,  died  Jan.  8,  1720.  Experience,  the 
mother,  died  Sept.  12,  1719.  Thomas  Hale,  the  father,  was  married 
again,  June  3,  1724,  to  Abigail  Ferry,  the  widow  of  Charles  Ferry. 
Abigail,  the  mother,  died  Oct.  14,  1748.  Thomas,  the  father,  died 
May  9,  1750.  Experience,  the  daughter,  married  Josiah  Cooley,  Jan. 
3,  1739.  Rebecca  was  married  to  Capt.  Simon  Colton,  Jan.  15,  1761. 
Might  not  Thomas  Hale  be  the  brother  of  Martha  Hale,  who  married 
into  the  same  family  the  next  year,  June  27,  1706  ? 

THOMAS  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Experience  Hale  [page  139], 
was  married  Jan.  10,  1734,  to  Abigail  Burt,  daughter  of  David  and 
Martha  Burt.  Their  children — Abigail,  born  Feb.  9,  1735,  died  June 
26,  1812.  Silas,  born  July  27,  1737,  died  Oct.  14,  1802.  Abner  and 
Martha,  born  April  26,  1740.  Abner  died  March  30,  1803.  Martha 
died  March  26,  1809.  Thomas,  born  July  27,  1744,  died  March  29, 
1819.  Experience,  born  Nov.  15,  1747,  died  May  8,  1782.  Abigail, 
the  mother,  died  March  28,  1773.  Thomas,  the  father,  died  Jan.  8, 
1797.  Abigail,  the  daughter,  was  married  March  9,  1774,  to  Eleazer 
Smith,  of  Amherst.  Martha  was  married  March  21,  1764,  to  Ebenezer 
Wood,  of  Monson.  Experience  was  married  Feb.  3,  1774,  to  Jonah 
Cooley. 

JOHN  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Experience,  was  married  to  Sarah 
Keep,  the  widow  of  Samuel  Keep,  Dec.  2,  1762.  He  died  without 
issue,  Jan.  13,  1788,  and  his  estate  descended  to  his  brothers  and 
sisters  and  heirs.  The  dwelling-house  of  John  Hale  was  consumed 
by  fire  on  the  8th  day  of  Nov.,  1751,  being  the  next  day  after  the 
annual  Thanksgiving.  A  house  was  raised  for  him  again  on  the  25th 
of  the  same  month.  Sarah,  his  widow,  died  May  n,  1810,  aged  92. 

NOAH  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Experience  Hale,  was  married 
Feb.  i,  1737,  to  Miriam  Bliss,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah 


65 

Bliss.     Their  children — Noah,  born   March   14,    1738,   died  Jan.  3, 

1742.  Miriam,  born  July  24,  1740,  died  April  25,  1796.     Noah,  born 
May  5,  1743,  died  June  n,  1744.     Moses,  born  May,  1745,  died  Dec. 
15,  1746.     Sarah,  born  Nov.  5,  1747,  died  Dec.  9,  1821.     Eunice,  born 
Aug.  17,  1752.     Lucy,  born  Aug.  13,  1755.  'Noah   Hale,  the  father, 
died    Dec.    19,    1793.     Miriam,    the    mother,    died   Nov.    26,    1789. 
Miriam,  the  daughter,  was  married  May  18,  1761,  to  Samuel  Coomes. 
Eunice  was    married    to  Timothy   Day,    Jan.   29,   1778.     Lucy  was 
married  to  Calvin  Bliss,  March  28,  1781. 

JONATHAN  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Experience  Hale  {page  140], 
was  married  Dec.  29,  1736,  to  Lydia  Ely,  daughter  of  Dea.  Jonathan 
and  Lydia  Ely.  Their  children — Jonathan,  born  Jan.  24,  1738,  died 
March  9,  1806.  Hezekiah,  born  May  5,  1740,  died  July  26,  1813. 
Nathan,  born  April  18,  1742  ;  lived  at  Goshen,  Ct.  Lydia,  born  Oct. 

1743,  died  Dec.   15,  1780.     Experience,  born  July  8,  1745,  died  Oct. 
5,  1745.     Lydia,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  2,   1746.     Jonathan  Hale,  the 
father,  died    Dec.    n,   1793.     Lydia,  the  daughter,  was  married  to 
Colonel  Gideon  Burt,  Dec.  10,  1772  [see  page  28]. 

SILAS  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Hale,  was  married  Jan. 
29,  1761,  to  Hannah  Parsons,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Hannah 
Parsons,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — John,  born  May  12,  1763. 
Hannah,  born  Jan.  22,  1766.  Flavia,  born  Dec.  23,  1767,  died  Oct. 

13,  1840,  married  Asahel  Colton.     Celia,  born  Dec.  13,  1768.     Lucina, 
'born  Aug.  20,  1770.     Ruby,  born  Jan.  12,  1773.     Abigail,  born  Aug. 
20,  1774,  died  Oct.  8,  1776.     Experience,  born  June  29,   1776,  died 
Nov.  i,  1776.     Silas,  born  May  10,  1778.     Silas,  the  father,  died  Oct. 

14,  1802.     Hannah,   the  daughter,  was   married  Jan.   22,    1794,  to 

Benjamin   Baxter.     Celia  was  married  .     Ruby  was  married 

Feb.  26,  1801,  to  John  Webber. 

ABNER  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Hale,  was  married  May 
7,  1767,  to  Martha  Burt,  daughter  of  David  and  Sarah  Burt.  Their 
children — Elam,  born  July  30,  1769.  Amy,  born  Aug.  4,  1772,  died 
Nov.  2,  1838.  Abner,  born  May  7,  1776,  died  Sept.  19,  1777. 
Abner,  born  May  10,  1778.  David,  born  Oct.  21,  1780.  Martha, 
born  April  n,  1782.  Chauncy,  born  Dec.  26,  1785.  Abner,  the 
father,  died  March  30,  1803.  Martha,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  16, 
1834,  age  94. 

THOMAS  HALE,  son  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Hale  [page  141],  was 
married  Feb.  3,  1774,  to  Ann  Stebbins,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and 
Margaret  Stebbins;  he  died  March  29,  1819.  Their  children— Anne, 
born  Nov.  22,  1777.  Abigail,  born  April  29,  1781.  Lydia,  born  Aug. 
1785.  Ann,  the  mother,  died  April  17,  1787.  Thomas  Hale  was 
married  again,  Feb.  7,  1788,  to  Annas  Parsons,  daughter  of  Moses 
and  Hannah  Parsons,  of  Enfield.  She  died  Nov.  16,  1823.  Anne, 
the  daughter  of  Thomas,  was  married  to  Amos  Parker,  Oct.  2,  1805  ; 
they  removed  to  the  town  of  Sharon,  State  of  Vermont  [see  page 
177].  Abigail  married  Oct.  1 8,  1 80 1,  to  Isaac  Corkins.  Lydia  *was 
married  Jan.  31,  1811,  to  Henry  Avery,  of  Stafford. 


66 

COL,  JONATHAN  HALE,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Lydia  Hale,  was 
married  June  13,  1765,  to  Mary  Keep,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
Keep.  They  had  no  children.  Col.  Jonathan  Hale  having  served 
his  country  and  town  in^the  several  capacities  of  a  military  officer, 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  a  Selectman,  Town  Clerk,  and  Treasurer.  He 
died  March  9,  1806,  and  left  his  estate  to  his  brothers'  and  sisters' 
children. 

LIEUT.  HEZEKIAH  HALE,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Lydia  Hale,  was 
married  July  10,  1799,  to  Miriam  Bliss,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Miriam 
Bliss.  He  died  July  26,  1813,  aged  73.  His  widow,  Miriam  Hale, 
married  Gad  Colton,  Esq.,  April  3,  1816,  and  died  July  8,  1831,  age 

73- 

NATHAN  HALE,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Lydia  Hale  [page  142],  was 
married  April  26,  1778,  to  Mrs.  Salome  Robbins,  widow  of  Samuel 
Robbins,  of  Canaan,  and  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Lee,  of 
Salsbury,  Conn.  Their  children — Eliza,  born  Feb.  18,  1779,  died  Jan. 
n,  1803.  Lydia,  born  April  4,  1781.  Nathan  Metcalf,  born  Feb.  12, 
1783;  went  to  South  America  about  1810.  Clarissa,  born  Jan.  8, 
1786.  Harriet,  born  Feb.  22,  1788.  Jonathan  Lee,  born  May  31, 
1790.  Caroline,  born  Oct.  10,  1795.  Lydia  was  married  to  the  Rev. 
John  Keep,  of  Blanford,  June  2,  1806. 

JOHN  HALE,  son  of  Silas  and  Hannah  Hale,  was  married  Nov.  15, 
1792,  to  Eunice  Colton,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Hannah  Colton,  of 
Wilbraham.  Their  children — Silas,  born  Dec.  n,  1793.  Philida, 
born  Feb.  2,  1796.  Hannah,  born  Aug.  10,  1798,  died  March  15, 
1843.  John,  the  father,  died  Sept.  14,  1837,  age  74. 

ELAM  HALE,  son  of  Abner  and  Martha  Hale,  was  married  to 
Elisabeth  Pease,  1798,  daughter  of  Emery  Pease,  Esq.,  of  Somers, 
Their  children — Elam,  born  Aug.  2,  1801.  Eliza,  born  March  15, 
1807,  died  Jan.  19,  1808.  Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  March  10. 
1827,  age  60.  Elam  Hale,  died  Feb.  15,  1830,  age  61  years. 

DAVID  HALE,  of  Longmeadow  [page  143],  son  of  Abner  and 
Martha  Hale  \_page  140],  was  married  May  5,  1808,  to  Rebecca  Wool- 
worth,  daughter  of  Azariah  and  Rebecca  Woolworth.  Their  children 
— Eliza,  born  Feb.  14,  1809.  David  Burt,  born  Sept.  i,  1811. 
Rebecca  Cooley,  born  June  3,  1813,  died  Sept.  26,  1814.  Rebecca 
Field,  born  Sept  4,  1815.  Solomon,  born  Aug.  29,  1817.  Henry, 
born  Aug.  1819.  Fanny,  born  July  2,  1825.  Franklin,  July  15,  1822. 

CHAUNCY  HALE  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Abner  and  Martha  Hale, 
was  married  Nov.  27,  1810,  to  Lois  Lomis.  Their  children — Charles 
Backus,  born  Feb.  21,  1812.  William,  born  March  29,  1815.  Lois 

— .     [Vacant  to  page  146.] 

JOHN  HANCOCK,  of  Springfield,  was  married  Nov.  19,  1713,10  Anna 
Webb.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Feb.  22,  1716.  John,  born  May 
20,  1717,  died  Feb.  6,  1770.  Anna,  born  July  14,  1719,  died  June  24, 
1740.  Abel,  born  Jan.  19,  1721,  died  Nov.  29,  1807.  Abner,  born 
Aug.  9,  1722.  Jonathan,  born  Aug.  4,  1724.  Mabel,  born  Feb.  2, 
1726,  died  Nov.  10,  1806.  Thomas,  born  May  10,  1727,  died  March 


6; 

4,   1804.     Jabez,  born  July  29,   1728.     William,  born  Oct.  26,  1729. 

Experience,  born  Nov.  2,  1730,  died  Sept.  7,  1780.  Daniel,  born , 

died  July  18,  1784.  Abigail,  born  Jan.  12,  1734.  Mercy,  born  Aug. 
25,  1735.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  in  pages  succeeding  this). 
Mabel  was  married  Jan.  12,  1749,  to  George  Cooley,  and  after  his 
death  to  Capt.  Joseph  Ferry,  Nov.  29,  1797,  and  died  in  Springfield 
Nov.  10,  1806.  Abigail  was  married  Oct.  19,  1752,  to  Jabez  Cooley. 
Mercy  was  married  Sept.  18,  1755,  to  David  Bonner.  Anna,  the 
mother,  died  July  6,  1771. 

JOHN  HANCOCK,  son  of  John  and  Anna,  was  married  Nov.  22,  1744, 
to  Mary  Kilborn.  Their  children — John,  born  Oct.  4,  1745,  died  Nov. 
14,  1745.  John,  born  Feb.  14,  1747.  Mary,  the  mother,  died.  John 
Hancock,  the  father,  was  married  again  July  n,  1754,  to  Abigail 
Terr}-.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Sept.  i,  1755.  John,  born  Aug. 
16,  1756,  died  June  14,  1759.  Moses,  born  Dec.  20,  1759.  Hulda, 
born  Aug.  27,  1760.  John,  born  Oct.  28,  1761.  Caroline,  born  May 

30,   1763.     Lucy,  born  Aug.   2,   17.64.     Freegrace,  born .     John 

Hancock,  the  father,  died  Feb.  6,  1770. 

ABEL  HANCOCK,  of  Springfield  \_page  147],  son  of  John  and  Anna 
Hancock  [page  146],  was  married  March  13,  1748,  to  Eunice  Parsons. 
Their  children — Eunice,  born  Oct.  21,  1749.  Abel,  born  Sept.  n, 
1751.  Sabra,  born  July  23,  1755,  married  to  Martin  Warriner,  Oct.  5, 
1780.  Piercy,  born  May  3,  1760.  Naomy,  born  Oct.  10,  1764.  Abel, 
the  father,  died  Nov.  29,  1807. 

JOTHAM  HANCOCK,  of  Springfield,  son  of  John  and  Anna  Hancock, 
was  married  to  Susanna  Thompson,  published  March  i,  1755.  Their 
children— Roxylana,  born  March  22, 1757.  Ruth,  born  April  24,  1759. 
Naomy,  born  Oct.  14,  1764.  Lewis,  born  May  9,  1767.  Jonathan, 
born  July  27,  1769. 

THOMAS  HANCOCK,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and  Anna  Man- 
cock,  was  married  Nov.  16,  1749,  to  Jemima  Wright,  daughter  of 
Benjamin  and  Mary  Wright,  of  Chicopee.  Their  children— Jemima, 
born  May  24,  1750.  Diademia,  born  March  2,  1753.  Anne,  born 
Jan.  14,  1756.  Elijah,  born  June  24,  1758,  died  of  the  small-pox. 
Jonathan,  born  Feb.  19,  1761,  died  June  21,  1780.  Thomas,  born 
Nov.  21,  1763.  Sarah,  born  June  4,  1768.  Eunice,  born  March  26, 

1772.     Jemima  was  married  to Wright.     Diademia  was  married 

to  Nathaniel  Warriner,  of  Wilbraham.  Anne  was  married  to  Mayor 
foseph  Parsons,  of  Enfield,  April  19,  1779.  Elijah  died  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  Thomas,  the  father,  being  reduced,  was  a  pauper 
of  the  town  of  Longmeadow  several  years,  and  died  March  4,  1804. 
Thomas,  the  son,  with  his  mother  and  his  family,  removed  into  the 
State  of  New  York. 

WILLIAM  HANCOCK,  of  Springfield,  son  of  John  and  Anna  Hanc 
\page  148],  was  married  to  Hannah    Long,  of  Windsor,  published 
March    14,    1752.     Their  children  —  William,   born    May    14,    1753- 
Oliver,  born  May  7,  1755,  died  June  9,  1759.     Cloe,  born  Sepfc  22, 
1757.     Oliver,  born  Dec.  8,    1759.     Zacheriah,  born  Nov.  30,  1761. 


68 

Maribah,  born  Sept.  ig,  1763.  Alpheus,  born  Nov.  15,  1765.  Han- 
nah, born  Dec.  24,  1768.  Elisabeth,  born  August  20,  1774. 

JABEZ  HANCOCK,  son  of  John  and  Anna  Hancock,  was  married 
Nov.  29,  1750,  to  Rachel  Wright,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Mary 
Wright,  of  Chicopee.  Their  children — Abner,  born  April  24,  1751. 
Jabez,  born  Nov.  20,  1753.  Freelove,  born  June  7,  1756.  Rachel, 
born  Oct.  30,  1758.  Lovina,  born  March  18,  1761.  Rosanna,  born 
Aug.  4,  1763.  Loranda,  born  April  12,  1766.  Phebe,  born  May  31, 
1768.  Uriah,  born  April  18,  1772.  Gad,  born  Sept.  4,  1774.  Bath- 
sheba,  born  July  25,  1777.  Freelove  was  married  July  9,  1778,  to 
Stephen  Chandler,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Stephen  and  Mary  Chand- 
ler. Rachel  was  married  April  n,  1778,  to  Samuel  Kibbe.  Jabez 
Hancock,  the  father,  with  the  greater  part  of  his  children,  removed  to 
the  town  of  Parris,  State  of  New  York. 

DANIEL  HANCOCK,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and  Anna  Han- 
cock, was  married  to  Lucy  Long,  of  Windsor,  published  Oct.  12, 1754. 
Their  children — Abiel,  born  Dec/  5,  1755.  Lucy,  born  Oct,  26,  1757. 

Abiel,  born  Sept.  27,  1761,  died  June  24,  1829.  Lucy,  born . 

Lucretia,  born  Feb.  12,  1764.  Sybel,  born  Sept.  7,  1766.  Lovisa, 
born  Sept.  28,  1768.  Daniel,  born  Dec.  24,  1770.  Azariah,  born 

1773.  Ariel,  born  1779.  Jonathan,  born .  Daniel  Hancock,  the 

father,  died  July  18,  1784. 

WILLIAM  HANCOCK,  of  Enfield,  son  of  William  and  Hannah  Han- 
cock [page  149],  was  married  to  Triphene  Chandler,  daughter  of 
Stephen  and  Mary  Chandler.  They  were  published  Jan.  3,  1778, 
and  married  Jan.  21,  1778.  Their  children  were — A  stillborn  child, 
Nov.  16,  1778.  Triphene,  born  Feb.  14,  1780.  Mary,  born  Feb.  22, 
1782.  Triphene,  the  mother,  died  May  10,  1784.  William  Hancock, 
the  father,  was  married  again  May  26,  1785,  to  Margaret  Cooley, 
daughter  of  Aaron  and  Ruth  Cooley.  Their  children — Roswel,  born 
March  28,  1786.  Orra,  born  March  16,  1788.  Tirza,  born  Jan.  7, 
1790.  William,  born  July  10,  1792.  Moses,  born  July  n,  1795. 
Margaret,  born  Jan.  16,  1798,  died  Jan.  8,  1816.  William  Hancock 
died  by  cutting  his  own  throat  with  a  razor,  May  27,  1803. 

ALPHEUS  HANCOCK,  son  of  William  and  Hannah  Hancock,  was 
married  June  i,  1785,  to  Abigail  Steel,  daughter  of  Sarah  and  Aaron 
Steel.  Their  children — Aaron,  born  July  22,  1785.  Abigail,  born 
Nov.  15,  1787.  Ascenath,  born  March  3,  1790.  Harris,  born  June 
23,  1792.  Hervy,  born  Aug.  24,  1794.  Hervy,  born  April  n,  1797. 
Amanda,  born  Feb.  24,  1800.  Hermon,  born  Jan.  29,  1802.  Herskil, 
born  March  n,  1804.  Hart,  born  Oct.  8,  1806. 

AZARIAH  HANCOCK,  son  of  Daniel  and  Lucy,  was  married  Dec.  23, 
1792,  to  Ruth  Burkit.  She  was  born  Oct.  14,  1769.  Their  children — 
Michael,  born  May  8,  1793.  Lucy,  born  July  13,  1795,  died  Aug.  20, 
1796.  Lucy,  born  June  17,  1797,  died  Oct.  18,  1798.  George,  born 
Jan.  10,  1800.  Lovice,  born  Aug,  17,  1802.  Daniel,  born  April  14, 
1805.  Esther,  born  Feb.  7,  1809.  [Vacant  to  page  152.] 

JOHN  HILLS.     The  first  of  the  name  in  Longmeadow.     He   was 


69 

married  to  Deliverance  Craw.  They  lived  in  North  Bolton,  where  it 
is  supposed  their  children  were  born.  They  removed  to  Longmeadow 
about  the  year  1760,  and  settled  on  a  farm  purchased  of  Israel  Phelps. 
Their  children — Margaret,  who  was  married  to  Joseph  Stephens. 
John,  who  married  Cloe  Millington.  Jacob,  who  -married  Love  Pease, 
daughter  of  Cummins  Pease.  Deliverance,  who  was  married  to 
Joseph  Pierce,  Aug.  27,  1760.  Isaac,  who  married  Abigail  King, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  King.  Joseph,  who  married  Eunice  Kibbe. 
Stephen  died.  Hulda,  who  was  married  to  Benjamin  King.  Anne, 
who  was  married  to  William  Brooks.  Rebecca,  who  was  married  to 
Ebenezer  Pease,  son  of  Cummins.  Mary,  who  was  married  to  Isaac 
Kibbe,  of  Enfield,  son  of  James.  Moses,  who  was  married  to  Mary 
White.  (The  families  of  Jacob  and  Moses,  see  hereafter.  The  fami- 
lies of  the  other  sons  are  not  here  known,  as  they  settled  in  remote 
parts.)  John  Hills,  the  father,  died  Dec.  4,  1782.  Deliverance,  the 
mother,  died  Sept.  3,  1786. 

JACOB  HILLS,  of  Enfield,  son  of  John  and  Deliverance  Hills  above, 
was  married  April  7,  1763,  to  Love  Pease,  daughter  of  Cummins  and 
Elizabeth  Pease,  of  Enfield.  She  died  March  10,  1830.  Their  child- 
ren— Jacob,  born  Dec.  23,  1763.  Sarah,  born  Oct.  14,  1765.  Love, 
born  Dec.  17,  1767.  Stephen,  born  May  29,  1770.  Elisabeth,  born 
May  26,  1772.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  27,  1774.  Jedadia,  born  Jan.  n, 
1777.  Solomon,  born  March  7,  1799.  William.  Deliverence. 

MOSES  HILLS,  son  of  John  and  Deliverence  Hills  above,  was  mar- 
ried Dec.  26,  1772,  to  Mary  White,  of  East  Windsor.  Their  children 
— Mary,  born  Aug.  12,  1773,  married  to  Oliver  Hills,  Jan.  14,  1790. 
Moses,  born  March  9,  1775.  Theadocia,  born  Sept.  i,  1776,  married 
to  Daniel  Green  Aug.  15,  1793.  Aaron,  born  July  23,  1778.  Miriam, 
born  March  18,  1780.  David,  born  July  14,  1782.  Esther  and  Solo- 
mon, born  Oct.  i,  1784.  Solomon  died  Feb.  20,  1785.  Calvin,  born 
Feb.  8,  1788.  Sarah,  born  Jan.  2,  1790,  died  Nov.  5,  1792.  Ichabod, 
born  May  7,  1792.  Solomon,  born  July  n,  1796.  Moses  Hills,  the 
father,  with  his  family,  removed  [page  153]  from  Longmeadow  Sept. 
27,  1804,  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  he  died  at  the  town  of 
Somers,  Nov.  20,  1804.  She  died  March  10,  1838,  age  89. 

JACOB  HILLS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jacob  and  Love  Hills,  was 
married  to  Naomy  Bishop,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  Bishop,  of 
Wilbraham.  Their  children — Jacob,  born  July  14,  1790.  Naomy, 
born  Sept.  3,  1792.  Samuel  Bishop,  born  April  4,  1795,  died  June  4, 
1828.  Mary,  born  July  24,  1797.  Roxelane,  born  Nov.  27,  1800. 
Solomon,  born  April  27,  1803.  Luther,  born  Nov.  22,  1805.  Naomy, 
the  daughter,  was  married  July  24,  1808,  to  Jonathan  Marsh  Cooley,  of 
Somers,  son  of  Luke  Cooley. 

OLIVER  HILLS,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Eunice  Hills,  and  grandson 
of  John  and  Deliverence,  was  married  Jan.  14,  1790,  to  Mary  Hills, 
daughter  of  Moses  and  Mary  Hills.  Their  children  —  Polly,  born 
June  3,  1792,  died  Jan.  16,  1814.  Sally,  born  Aug.  27,  1794.  Patience, 
born  April  7,  1797.  Lucina,  born  April  5,  1799.  N.  B.— The  first 


70 

was  born  in  Enfield,  the  second  and  third  in  Blanford,  Mass.,  the 
fourth  in  Dorset,  Vermont.  Oliver  Hills  and  his  wife  parting,  she 
brought  her  children  to  Longmeadow. 

EPHRAIM  HUN,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of [page  154],  was 

married  Nov.  25,  1788,  to  Mitty  Lathrop,  daughter  of  Thatcher  and 
Mehittable  Lathrop.  She  was  born  Dec.  20,  1765.  Their  children — 
David  Lathrop,  born  Nov.  '5,  1789.  Ephraim,  born  July  31,  1791. 
Submit,  born  Jan.  19,  1794.  Roxe,  born  June  8,  .1796.  Cyndona, 
born  Feb.  10,  1799.  Cyndona,  born  Sept.  21,  1801.  Sophrona,  born 
April  2,  1804.  Erastus,  born  Nov.  n,  1806. 

JOHN  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow  [page  155  ],  one  of  the  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  the  town  of  Springfield,  in  the  part  thereof  called  Long- 
meadow,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  all  the  Keeps  in  this  part  of  the 
county.  The  record  and  traditional  accounts  of  him  and  his  family 
are  as  follows:  John  Keep  was  married  Dec.  31,  1663,  to  Sarah 
Leonard.  She  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  daughter  of  John  Leonard 
and  born  Dec.  13,  1645.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  Dec.  5,  1666. 
Elisabeth,  born  Nov.  15,  1668,  died  Sept.  1675.  Samuel,  born  Aug. 
22,  1670,  died  Aug.  23,  1755.  Hannah,  born  June  8,  1673.  Jabez, 
born  Dec.  n,  1675.  John  Keep,  the  father,  his  wife  and  their  child, 
Jabez,  were  slain  by  the  Indians,  March  26,  1676.  As  they,  with  other 
neighbors  and  a  guard  of  men,  were  passing  from  Longmeadow  to 
Springfield  town,  to  meeting  on  the  Lord's  day,  they  were  fired  upon 
a  little  northward  of  Pacousick  Brook.  The  man  was  mortally 
wounded,  but  it  is  said  he  kept  his  horse  until  he  arrived  at  the  town  of 
Springfield.  The  woman,  his  wife,  it  is  said,  sprang  from  the  horse  upon 
the  firing  of  the  Indians,  and  was  carried  away  by  them  to  Hadleigh  and 
killed.  From  tradition  the  guard  are  faulted  as  cowardly  by  the  follow- 
ing sentence  :  "  Seven  Indians,  and  one  without  a  gun,  caused  Captain 
Nixon  and  forty  men  to  run."  Sarah,  the  eldest  daughter,  was  married 
Jan.  17,  1683,  to  Benjamin  Parsons,  supposed  to  be  the  son  of  Dea. 
Benjamin  Parsons,  of  Springfield.  They  settled  and  had  a  family  in 
Enfield.  Hannah,  the  youngest  daughter,  was  married  Oct.  16,  1690, 
to  Ebenezer  Miller,  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Miller.  They  had  a 
family  in  Springfield.  (The  family  of  Samuel,  the  son,  follows  this.) 

2d  Generation.  ENSIGN  SAMUEL  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
John  and  Sarah  Keep  above,  was  married  Feb.  27,  1695,  to  Sarah 
Colton,  daughter  of  Capt.  Thomas  Colton  and  Sarah,  his  wife.  Their 
children  were — a  nameless  infant,  born  Feb.  17,  1697.  John,  born  June 
22,  1698,  died  July  28,  1757.  Samuel,  born  Nov.  12,  1700,  died  Nov. 
9,  1761.  Sarah,  born  Aug.  23,  1703,  died  Nov.  4,  1767.  Jabez,  born 
March  10,  1706.  Elisabeth,  born  May  22,  1709,  died  July  29,  1720; 
Jemima,  born  July  17,  1711.  Josiah,  born  Nov.  30,  1713.  Abiah,  born 
Dec.  17,  1715.  Stephen,  born  Oct.  26,  1717,  died  Jan.  15,  1790; 
Eunice,  born  March  n,  1720,  died  Dec.  23,  1739.  Mathew,  born  Oct. 
3,  1722,  died  June  29, 1758.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  pages  156 
and  157).  Sarah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan.  4,  1728,  to  Dea. 
Daniel  Chandler,  of  Enfield.  Abiah  was  married  June  9,  1737,  to- 


Jonathan  Wright,  of  Windsor.  Jemima  [page  156],  was  married  Sept. 
i3>  i73J»  to  Isaac  Griswold,  of  Killingworth.  Jabez  was  married  to 
Sarah  Leonard  and  settled  at  a  place  called  Westford.  He  is  said  to 
have  had  sixteen  children.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  June  20,  1754. 
Ensign  Samuel  Keep,  the  father,  died  Aug.  23,  1755. 

JOHN  KEEP,  of  Monson,  son  of  Ensign  Samuel  Keep  and  Sarah 
his  wife,  was  married  to  Abigail  Mun,  of  Colchester.  Their  chil- 
dren— John,  born .  Elisabeth,  born  -  — .  Jabez,  born 

.  Elisabeth,  born .  Abigail,  born .  Sarah, 

born  Sept.  27,  1733,  died  Dec.  3,  1814.  Eunice,  born.—  Simeon, 

born  .  Mary,  born  .  Caleb,  born  .  Seth 

born .  John  Keep,  the  father,  died  July  28,  1757,  and  was 

buried  in  the  burying-yard  at  Brimfield.  Abigail,  his  widow,  died  Oct. 
5,  1787,  and  was  buried  by  her  husband.  Her  age,  87.  Sarah  mar- 
ried Stephen  Collins.  Stephen  Collins  died  Feb.  n,  1819. 

SAMUEL  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ensign  Samuel  Keep,  was 
married  Jan.  15,  1736,  to  Mary  Colton,  daughter  of  John  and  Joanna 
Colton.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Nov.  6,  1736,  died  July  22,  1816. 
Mary,  the  mother,  died  Feb.  15,  1737.  Samuel  Keep,  the  father,  was 
married  again  March  8,  1738,  to  Sarah  Bemen,  daughter  of  William 
and  Hannah  Bemen,  of  Enfield.  She  was  born  March  6,  1718. 
Their  children — Samuel,  born  May  26,  1739,  died  Oct.  20,  1823. 
Sarah,  born  Feb.  1741,  died  Oct.  23,  1746.  Eunice,  born  Sept.  17, 
1743,  died  Oct.  4, 1807.  John,  born  March  10,  1749,  died  Sept.  3,  1784. 
Sarah,  born  March  17,  1753,  died  Nov.  3,  1838.  Mary,  the  daughter, 
was  married  June  13,  1765,  to  Colonel  Jonth.  Hale,  and  died  July  22, 
1816.  Eunice  was  married  Dec.  22,  1768,  to  Festus  Colton.  Sarah 
was  married  April  25,  1776.  to  Medad  Stebbins,  after  his  death  to 
Lieut.  Noah  Stebbins,  of  Wilbraham,  Oct.  13,  1808.  (The  family  of 
Samuel,  the  son,  see  page  158).  John  had  a  public  education,  grad- 
uated at  New  Haven  College  A.D.  1769,  was  settled  in  the  ministry 
at  Sheffield  June  10,  1772.  He  was  married  to  Hannah  Rebecca 
Robins,  daughter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Robins,  of  Branford,  and  died  without 
issue.  Samuel  Keep,  the  father,  died  Nov.  9,  1761.  Sarah,  the 
mother,  was  married  to  John  Hale,  son  of  Thomas  and  Experience 
Hale,  Dec.  2,  1762  [page  138],  and  died  May  n,  1810. 

JOSIAH  KEEP,  of  Monson,  son  of  Ensign  Samuel  Keep  and  Sarah 
his  wife  [page  157],  was  married  May,  1737,  to  Loice  Noble,  of  West- 
field.  Their  children— Loice,  born  April,  1738.  Jemima,  born  1740. 
Ruth,  born  Jan.  1743.  Josiah,  born  July,  1745.  Moses,  born  Sept.  25, 
1747,  died  Nov.  12,  1825.  Hannah,  born  Aug.  21,  1750.  (Thefamily 
of  Moses,  see  in  page  158). 

STEPHEN  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ensign  Samuel  Keep  and 
Sarah  his  wife,  was  married  June  12,  1754,  to  Hannah  Colton,  daugh- 
ter of  Lieut.  Ephraim  Colton  and  Mary  his  wife.  Their  children- 
Silence,  born  March  10,  1755,  died  March  14^  1755.  Heman,  born 
Feb.  27,  1756,  died  Sept.  20,  1756.  Marah,  born  Sept.  15,  1757. 
Hannah,  born  Sept.  14,  1758;  Marah,  born  Aug.  n,  1761,  died  Aug. 


72 

4,  1825;  Stephen,  born  Jan.  25,  1765.  Hannah,  the  daughter,  was 
married  Oct.  12,  1796,  to  Silvanus  Walker,  of  Palmer.  Marah  was 
married  May  i,  1800,  to  Moses  Keep.  (The  family  of  Stephen,  see 
page  159.)  Stephen  Keep,  the  father,  died  Jan.  15,  1790.  Hannah 
Keep,  his  widow,  died  Oct.  20,  1805. 

MATHEW  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ensign  Samuel  Keep  and 
Sarah  his  wife,  was  married  Dec.  i,  1743,  to  Abigail  Woolcot,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Abigail  Wolcott.  Their  children — Abigail,  born 

.  Mathew,  born  March  24,  1745.  Abigail,  born  Oct.  u, 

1748.  Silvanus,  born  Jan.  i,  1752.  Silence,  born  Oct.  31,  1755. 
Silence,  born  Oct.  13,  1757.  Mathew  Keep,  the  father,  died  June  29, 
1758.  Abigail,  the  mother,  was  married  again  Oct.  17,  1771,  to  David 
Bowen,  of  Wellington,  and  died  Feb.  4,  1809.  She  was  born  Aug.  15, 
1721.  Abigail  was  married  Feb.,  1783,  to  Jonah  Cooley.  Silence  was 
married  to  Nathaniel  Newel,  of'  Union.  (The  family  of  Mathew,  the 
son,  see  page  159.) 

SAMUEL  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Keep  [page 
158],  was  married  June  4,  1767,  to  Sabina  Cooley,  daughter  of  Josiah 
and  Experience  Cooley.  Their  children — Flavia,  born  Feb.  17,  1768, 
died  Sept.  19,  1829.  Sabina,  born  Nov.  20,  1769.  Experience,  born  Jan. 
13,  1772,  died  Dec.  25,  1785.  Samuel,  born  Feb.  10,  1774.  Heber, 
born  Jan.  20,  1776.  Elenor,  born  May  31,  1778,  died  July  8,  1810. 
John,  born  April  20,  1781.  Hannah,  born  Oct.  18,  1784.  Experience, 
born  Dec.  19,  1787.  Flavia  was  married  Jan.  19,  1804,  to  Gains  Bliss. 
Sabina  was  married  March  20,  1792,  to  Dea.  Walter  White  \_page  217]. 
Elenor  was  married  March  5,  1801,  to  Solomon  Warriner.  (The  fami- 
lies of  the  sons,  page  160.) 

MOSES  KEEP,  son  of  Josiah  and  Loice  Keep,  was  married  Dec.  2, 
1773,  to  Hannah  Woodbury,  of  Brookfield.  Their  children — Cheller, 
born  Oct.  31,  1774.  Thomas,  born  Oct.  26,  1776.  Hannah,  born  Oct. 
13,  1780.  Almeyda,  born  Aug.  26,  1782  .  Noble,  born  Sept.  4,  1786. 
Hannah,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  18,  1796.  Moses  Keep  was  married 
again  May  i,  1800,  to  Marah  Keep,  daughter  of  Stephen  Keep.  She 
died  Aug.  4,  1825,  age  64.  He  died  Nov.  12,  1825,  age  74.  Their 
children — Salome,  born  March  25,  1801,  died  March  25,  1862,  at  Bos- 
ton. Flavia,  born  Dec.  17,  1803,  died  Nov.  26,  1804.  Mary,  born 
Jan.  8,  1808,  died  Oct.  14,  1808. 

STEPHEN  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Stephen  and  Hannah  Keep 
[page  159],  was  married  Nov.  27,  1791,  to  Martha  Colton,  daughter  of 
Solomon  and  Lucy  Colton.  Their  children — James,  born  Jan.  26, 
1793,  died  Nov.  3,  1793.  James,  born  Feb.  3,  1794.  Stephen  Wil- 
liams, born  Sept.  30,  1797.  Martha,  born  April  29,  1800.  Francis 
Brick,  born  July  n,  1807,  died  near  New  Orleans.  Stephen  Keep, 
the  father,  died  Oct.  18,  1840,  age  76.  His  wife  died  June  29,  1819, 
age  49. 

MATHEW  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Mathew  and  Abigail  Keep, 
was  married  Nov.  29,  1764,  to  Mehittable  Chandler,  daughter  of  Isaac 
and  Abigail  Chandler,  of  Enfield.  He  died  Feb.  6,  1827,  age  82. 


73 

Their  children — Silvanus,  born  March,  1765.     Mathew,  born  Dec   i? 
1767.     Mercene,  born  March  25,  1769.     Editha,  born  April  4   1772 
Mehittable,  born  Feb,  18,  1778.     Abigail,  born  March  5,  1780      He- 
man,  born  Aug.  22,  1782.     Luther,  born  April  ii,  1786.     Mehittable, 
the  mother,  died  Feb.  22,  1795.     Mathew  Keep,  the  father,  married 
again  June  9,  1797,  to  Miriam  Colton,  widow  of  Capt.  Ebenezer  Col- 
ton.     Mehittable,  the  daughter,  was  married    July  2,  1797,  to  Oliver 
Dwight.     Miriam  Keep  died  Nov.  13,  1831,  age  85.     Abigail  was  mar- 
ried Sept.  3,  1802,  to  Bunce.     Editha  was  married  Sept.  20 

1811,  to  Walter  Burdick,  of  Ellington. 

SAMUEL  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sabina  Keep 
{page  160],  was  married  Jan.  30,  1800,  to  Anne  Bliss,  daughter  of 
Ebenezer  and  Abigail  Bliss.  She  died  June  2,  1834,  age  63.  He  died 
May  17,  1849,  age  75.  Their  children— Nathan,  born  Dec.  3,  1800, 
married  and  lived  at  Boston.  Samuel,  born  March  6,  1803,  died  at 
Baltimore  Aug.  10,  1830.  Lucy,  born  May  23,  1805,  married  to  Rev. 
Kphraim  Taylor,  died  Oct.  20,  1841.  Eunice,  born  Oct.  27,  1807. 
John  Robinson,  born  May  22,  1810,  married  to  Rebecca,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Rev.  Noah  Porter.  Solomon,  born  May  25,  1812,  died  Dec 
13,  1848. 

HEBER  KEEP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sabina  Keep, 

was  married  Feb.  15,  1810,  to  Elisabeth  Benton,  daughter  of  . 

She  died  April  19,  1843.  Their  children — Henry  Agustus,  born  Feb. 
10,  1811.  E—  — Benton,  born  July  24, 1816.  Edward,  born  March 
24,  1818.  Elisabeth  Francis,  born  Oct.  29,  1819.  Caroline,  born 
Feb.  20,  1821. 

REV.  JOHN  KEEP,  of  Blanford,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sabina  Keep,  was 
married  June  2,  1806,  to  Lydia  Hale,  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Salome 
Hale.  Their  child — John  Theadore,  born  July  31,  1809.  [Vacant  to 
page  164.] 

JOHN  KENT,  a  native  of  Suffield,  was  born  Jan.  7, 1772  (his  mother's 

name  Archer),  was  married  Nov.  20,   1794,  to  Sarah   Steel, 

daughter  of  Aaron  and  Sarah  Steel,  of  Longmeadow.  He  died  March 
4,  1821.  She  died  Jan.  23,  1858.  Their  children — Aaron  Steel,  born 
Sept.  3,  1795.  Adolphus  Dudley,  born  April  26,  1797.  Sally,  born 
May  5,  1799.  Amanda,  born  Aug.  20,  1801.  Bera,  born  Jan.  3,  1804, 
died  Aug.  18,  1804.  Bera,  born  Dec.  28,  1805.  Pamelia,  born  Feb. 
3,  1808.  Lucy,  born  Aug.  2,  1812,  died  Sept.  26,  1812. 

SAMUEL  KING,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Hulda  King, 
of  Enfield,  was  born  Dec.  29,  1767,  was  married  May  i,  1794,  to 
Nancy  Parker,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Peggy  Parker.  Their  chil- 
dren— Nancy,  born  May  26,  1795.  Lovice,  born  Aug.  14,  1796.  Per- 
cis,  born  April  25,  1798.  Samuel,  born  Feb.  28,  1800.  Dolly,  born 
March  27,  1802.  Austin,  born  March  18,  1804.  Peggy,  born  Feb. 
27,  1806.  Parmel,  born  Feb.  n,  1808,  died  April  29,  1810. 

LIEUT.  SAMUEL  KING,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Samuel  and  Zubah 

King,  of  Ellington,  was  born ,  and  was  married  Sept.  17,  1799, 

to  Hannah  Ashley,  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Hannah  Ashley.     Their 


74 

children — Hannah,  born  Sept.  27,  1802.  Warren,  born  Dec.  14,  1806. 
John,  born  April  7,  1808.  Jabez,  born  Jan.  23,  1811.  Capt.  Samuel 
King,  with  his  family,  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York  1802.  [Va- 
cant to  page  1 66.] 

DAVID  LATHROP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Thatcher  and  Submit 
Lathrop,  was  born  April  26,  1758,  and  was  married  Jan.  28,  1789,  to 
Anne  Chipman,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Mehittable  Chipman. 
Their  children — Halsey,  born  Feb.  23,  1790.  Joseph,  born  Sept.  8, 

1791,  died  June  29,  1842,  age  50.    Almira,  born  Jan.  14,  1793.    Anne, 
born   Dec.  24,   1794.     Nancy,   born  March   13,   1796.     Fanny,  born. 
Nov.   19,  '1798.     Sally,  born  April   19,   1801.     Lucy,  born  May   28, 
1805. 

ENSIGN  LARIN  LATHROP,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Thatcher  and  Sub- 
mit Lathrop,  was  married  to  Miriam  Foster ,  daughter  of  Pela- 

tiah  and  Phebe  Foster,  of  East  Windsor.  Their  children — William, 

born  .  Miriam,  born  ,  died  March  5,  1829.  Lyman, 

born .  Lorin,  born  March  27,  1817. 

SOLOMON  LOMIS,  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Elisabeth,  of  Lebanon,  and 
and  grandson  of  Capt.  George  and  Mary  Colton,  was  married  Feb.  22, 
1784,  to  Lucy  Colton,  daughter  of  Solomon  and-  Lucy  Colton  {page 
66].  Their  children — Lucy,  born  Aug.  9,  1784.  William,  born  Oct. 
8,  1786.  Lucretia,  born . 

ISRAEL  MARKHAM,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Darius  Markham,  of 
Enfield  \_page  167],  was  born  June  6,  1775,  was  married  Sept.  3,  1794, 
to  Lucina  Kibbe,  daughter  of  Capt.  Gideon  Kibbe  and  Bridget  his 
wife.  Their  children — Lucina,  born  Feb.  20,  1795.  Jerusha,  born 
Aug.  7,  1796.  Israel,  born  Oct.  7,  1797.  Nathan,  born  Aug.  27, 
1800,  died  Sept.  2,  1808.  Irena,  born  Oct.  16,  1802.  Harriet,  born 
July  31,  1804.  Gideon,  born  March  4,  1806.  Samuel,  born  Feb.  29, 
1808. 

EBENEZER  MCGREGORY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer  and 

McGregory,  of  Enfield  [page  168],  was  born ,  and  was 

married  Nov.  20,  1777,  to  Susanna  Bradley,  of  Tolland,  Conn.  He 
died  July  16,  1822.  Their  children — Ebenezer,  born  Jan.  n,  1779, 
died  Oct.  12,  1826.  Jabez,  born  Aug.  24,  1780,  died  Sept.  6,  1780. 
[oseph,  born  Feb.  12,  1782,  died  Sept.  17,  1828.  Susanna,  born  June 
15,  1785.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  13,  1789.  Thankful,  born  March  12, 

1792.  Sinah,  born  Oct.  18,   1794.     (The  families  of  the  sons  see 
below.)    Susanna,  the  daughter,  was  married  to  Josiah  Blodget.    Han- 
nah was  married  Nov.  22,  1808,  to  Abel  Pease. 

EBENEZER  MCGREGORY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Su- 
sanna McGregory  above,  was  married  ,  1801,  to  Polly  Crane, 

daughter  of  Aaron  and  Mary  Crane.  He  died  Oct.  12,  1826,  age  48. 
Their  children — Polly,  born  Oct.  3,  1802.  Ebenezer,  born  July  13, 
1804.  Jabez,  born  Oct.  17,  1806.  Emeline,  born  Nov.  17,  1808. 

JOSEPH  McGREGORY,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Susanna 
McGregory  above,  was  married  Jan.  27,  1807,  to  Ruth  Billings,  daugh- 
ter of  Lieut.  Thaddeus  Billings.  Their  children — Joseph,  born  July 
27,^1808.  Norman,  born  June  19,  1809. 


75 

JOSEPH  MILLS,  of  Longmeadow  [page  169],  a  foreigner  by  birth,  was 
married  Dec.  19,  1769,  to  Sarah  Dodge,  of  Colchester,  in  Connecti- 
cut. He  purchased  a  tract  of  land  of  William  Stebbins  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Longmeadow.  Their  children — John,  born  June  r,  1770. 
Joseph,  born  May  24,  1772.  Anne,  born  Aug.  18,  1774.  William, 
born  Jan.  24,  1777.  Thomas,  born  May  2,  1779.  Samuel,  born  May 
4,  1781.  Stephen,  born  Aug.  22,  1782.  Martha,  born  Dec.  10,  1785. 
Betsey,  born  Sept.  30,  1788.  Israel,  born  Sept.  25,  1791.  Joseph 
Mills,  the  father,  died  July  19,  1800.  After  his  death  the  whole  fam- 
ily, at  different  times,  left  the  town. 

TILLY  MERRICK,  of  West  Springfield,  son  of  Dea.  Joseph  Merrick 
and  Mary  his  wife,  was  married  (a  second  marriage  of  his)  to  Lovice 
Colton,  daughter  of  Dea.  Aaron  Colton  and  Mary  his  wife.  Their 

children — Parnel,   born   Feb.   7,    1779,  died  .     Lucinda,  born 

Dec.  27,  1780,  died  Nov,  21,  1807.  Aaron,  born  Dec.  14,  1782.  Dan- 
iel, born  March  20,  1785.  Tilly,  born  Nov.  12,  1789.  Lovice,  born 
Jan.  30,  1792. 

NATHANIEL  MUN,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  and  Sarah 
Munn,  as  supposed  \J>age  170],  was  married  Dec.  28,  1721,  to  Hannah 
Colton,  daughter  of  Capt.  Thomas  and  Hannah  Colton.  Their  chil- 
dren found  in  record  were — Hepsibah,  born  July  21,  1725,  died  Aug. 
30,  1725.  Nathaniel,  born  July  12,  1727.  Isaiah,  born  Sept.  16, 
1730.  Ebenezer,  born  March  25,  1733.  Hannah,  born  March  2, 
1735.  Lydia,  born  Feb.  25,  1739.  Nathaniel  Mun,  the  father,  with 
his  family,  removed  to  Monson,  in  which  town  he  and  his  wife  died. 
[Vacant  to  page  174.] 

TIMOTHY  NASH,  a  native  of  Hadleigh,  was  married  to  Prudence 
Smith,  of  Hadleigh,  date  of  their  publishment  Jan  13,  1722.  Their 
children  found  on  record  were — Elisabeth,  born  Dec.  31,  1722. 
Phineas,  born  Oct.  17,  1724.  Prudence,  born  Dec.  31,  1726.  Judah, 
born  Dec.  31,  1728.  Joel,  born  June  19,  1731.  Abigail,  born  Oct.  i, 
1733,  died  April  23,  1738.  Timothy,  born  Mar.  20,  1736,  died  Jan.  9, 
1737.  Ebenezer,  baptized  Jan.  30,  1744.  Timothy  Nash  removed 
with  his  family  to  Ellington,  not  far  from  the  year  1750,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed died  in  that  town..  Judah,  his  son,  graduated  at  New  Haven 
College,  1748,  and  settled  in  the  ministry  in  the  town  of  Montague. 

HERMON   NEWEL,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of   Dea.  Abijah  Newel,  of 
Monson,  and  Hepsibah   his  wife,  was  married  Nov.  18,  1801,  to  Loice 
Burt,  daughter  of    Jonathan  and    Hannah  Burt    [page  30]. 
children— Edwin,  born    Nov.  10,  1802,  died   Aug.  16,  1826. 
born  July   i,   1804,  died  at  South   Hadley.     Simeon,  born    Sept    8 
1807,  died  Aug.  28,  1808.     Simeon,  born  Feb.  15,  1810.     Nathaniel 
Prior,  born  Feb.  25,  1817.     Harriet,  born    Sept.  28,  1820.     Hermon 
Newell,  died  Sept.  19,  1833,  age  59.     Lois    Newell,  die 

1  BENJAMIN  NEWEL,  of  Pittsfield,  was  married  Nov  2,  1800,  to  Mary 
Colton,  daughter  of  Capt.  Ebenezer  and  Miriam  Colton. 


76 

dren — Mary    Col  ton,  born    Mar.  29,    1803.      Hiram,   born   July    28, 
1805.     [Vacant  to  page  177.] 

AMOS  PARKER,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Amos  and  Mary  Parker,  of 
Sharon,  State  of  Vermont,  was  married  Oct.  2,  1805,  to  Anne  Hale, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Ann  Hale.  Their  children — Lydia,  born 
April  6,  1806.  Thomas  Hale,  born  Dec.  24,  1807.  Cynthia,  born 
Aug.  9,  1811.  David,  born  June  25,  1813,  died  Dec.  14,  1831.  Chloe, 
born  April  26,  1815.  Amos  Parker,  the  grandfather,  died  May  i, 
1836,  age  79. 

LEMUEL  PARSONS,  of  Springfield  \_fage  178],  was  married  Mar.  27, 
1780,  to  Margaret  Colton,  daughter  of  Asa  and  Margaret  Colton. 
Their  children — Amos,  born  Sept.  10,  1780.  Cloe,  born  April  18, 
1782,  died  Aug.  1783.  Mary,  born  Feb.  21,  1784,  died  Aug.  1794. 
Lemuel,  born  Dec.  2,  1785,  died  Sept.  2,  1786.  Asa,  born  Sept.  2, 
1787.  Austin,  born  June  6,  1789.  Simeon,  born  May  20,  1792. 
Polly,  born  June  8,  1797.  Margaret,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  13,  1806. 

AMOS  PARSONS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Lemuel  and  Margaret  Par- 
sons above,  was  married  Oct.  1802,  to  Mehittable  Prince,  of  Spring- 
field. Their  children — Seth,  born  Feb.  2,  1803.  Oliver,  born  Mar. 
13,  1805.  Margaret,  born  Mar.  n,  1807.  Lucius,  born  Feb.  28, 
1809.  Elvira,  born  Sept.  30,  1811.  Charles,  born  Sept.  6,  1816. 
Mehittable,  born  Jan.  14,  1814.  Amos,  born  May  3,  1820. 

ISAAC  PEASE,  of  Enfield,  son  of  Ezekiel  and  Hannah  Pease,  was 
married  Dec.  19,  1776,  to  Submit  Spencer,  daughter  of  Capt.  Heze- 
kiah  and  Mary  Spencer.  Their  children — Oliver,  born  Sept.  5,  1777. 
Isaac,  born  Mar.  22,  1779.  Daniel,  born  Oct.  3,  1780.  Reuben,  born 
Dec.  28,  1781.  Submit,  born  Oct.  3,  1783.  Calvin,  born  April  13, 
1784.  Abel,  born  May  6,  1787.  Submit,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  30, 
1813. 

ISAAC  PEASE,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Isaac  and  Submit  Pease,  of 

Enfield  \_page  179],  was  married  to  Betsey  Terry,  daughter  of  Col. 

Terry,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — Betsey,  born  June  17,  1804. 
Solomon,  born  Sept.  9,  1806.  Isaac  Terry,  born  April  u,  1809. 

PETER  PEASE,  a  native  of  Glastonbury,  Conn.,  was  married  Aug.  28, 
1794,  to  Anne  Bliss,  daughter  of  Asahel  and  Mary  Bliss.  Their  chil- 
dren— Sally,  born  June  13,  1795.  Polly,  born  April  5,  1797.  Sophia, 
born  Mar.  9,  1805.  Emelia,  born  July  n,  1807. 

ENSIGN   DANIEL  PORTER,  of  Longmeadow,  a  native  of   Ellington, 

was  married  Mar.  5,  1793,  to  Amy  Blodget,  daughter  of .     Their 

children — Daniel,  born  June  27,  1793.  Amy,  born  April  28,  1795. 
David  Taylor,  born  Feb.  25,  1797,  died  Mar.  25,  1802.  Wadsworth, 
born  Dec.  8,  1799.  Cynthia,  born  Feb.  14,  1802,  died  Mar.  14,  1802. 
Emelia,  born  Mar.  29,  1803.  Polly,  born  July  3,  1805.  David  Taylor, 
born  April  15,  1807,  died  Mar.  23,  1811. 

JACOB  PRATT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jacob  and  Elisabeth  Pratt, 
of  Somers  [page  180],  was  married  to  Mary  Cooley,  daughter  of 
George.  Their  children — Jacob,  born  Mar.  24,  1773.  Polly,  born 


77 

Dec.  16,  1774,  died  Dec.  1776.  Polly,  born  June  4,  1777.  Parmela, 
born  Dec.  14,  1779.  Abner,  born  Feb.  24,  1782.  Noah,  born  Feb. 
16,  1787.  Sahanus,born  June  4,  1789.  Philence,  born  July  16,  1791. 
Jacob  Pratt,  the  father,  died  June  2,  1811.  Mary,  the  mother,  died 
May  6.  1824.  [Vacant  to  page  184]. 

ist  Generation.  The  HON.  COL.  WILLIAM  PYNCHEON,  one  of  the 
first  patentees  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  Treasurer  of  the 
same,  came  to  New  England  in  the*  year  1629,  with  Governor  Winthrop 
and  others ;  in  the  year  1636,  he,  as  principal  leader  of  the  first  settlers, 
came  from  Roxbury  to  Springfield.  By  the  public  records  it  appears 
that  his  children  which  were  with  him  in  Springfield  were — Colonel 
John  Pyncheon,  his  successor,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Henry  Smith,  Mary  the 
wife  of  Captain  Elizur  Holyoke,  and  Margaret,  who  was  married  Dec. 
6,  1644,  to  Mr.  William  Davis.  By  the  records  of  the  general  court 
of  Massachusetts,  it  appears  that  Colonel  William  Pyncheon  published 
something  which  the  court  considered  to  be  heretical,  and  which  gave 
offense.  The  court  proposed  to  write  to  England,  signifying  their  dis- 
approbation of  the  doctrines  advanced  by  Col.  Pyncheon,  and  they 
also  appointed  Mr.  Norton,  of  Ipswich,  to  write  an  answer  to  the 
sentiment  advanced  by  Col.  Pyncheon.  They  also  suspended  him 
from  his  office  at  Springfield,  appointing  Mr.  Henry  Smith  to  succeed 
him.  These  transactions  of  the  general  court,  with  some  other  difficul- 
ties with  people  of  Connecticut  river,  are  supposed  to  have  been  the 
cause  of  Col.  William  Pyncheon's  leaving  Springfield  and  Massachu- 
setts, as  it  it  is  said  he  did  Sept.  1652,  with  his  son-in-law,  Mr. 
Henry  Smith,  and  returned  to  England.  He  died  in  a  place  called 
Wraisbury,  Oct.  1662,  age  72. 

2d  Generation.  COLONEL  JOHN  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Col.  William  Pyncheon,  was  married  Oct.  30,  1644,  to  Ame  Willis. 
Their  children — Joseph,  born  July  26,  1646.  John,  born  Oct.  15, 
1647,  died  April  25,  1721.  Mary,  born  Oct.  28,  1650.  William,  born 
Oct.  n,  1653,  died  June  15,  1654.  Mehittable,  born  Nov.  22,  1661, 
died  July  24,  1663.  Joseph,  educated  at  Harvard  College,  was  gradu- 
ated A.D.  1664,  was  in  England  1675,  at  the  time  Springfield  was 
burnt  by  the  Indians ;  he  settled  in  Boston,  and  died  unmarried.  (The 
family  of  John  follows  this.)  Maty  was  married  Oct.  5,  1669,  to 
Joseph  Whiting.  Mrs.  Ame  Pyncheon,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  9,  1699. 
Col.  John  Pyncheon,  the  father,  died  Jan.  17,  1703. 

3d  Generation.  COLONEL  JOHN  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Colonel  John  and  Ame  Pyncheon  above,  was  married  to  Margaret 
Hubbard,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  William  Hubbard,  of  Ipswich.  His 
wife  remained  at  Ipswich  during  the  Indian  war,  where  his  chil- 
dren were  born,  and  after  the  war  they  settled  at  Springfield.  Their 

children  were— John,  born ,  died  July  12,  1742.  Margaret, 

born .  William,  born ,  died  Jan.  i,  1741.  Margaret, 

the  daughter,  was  married  to  Nathaniel  Downing,  of  Ipswich,  and  had 
six  children,  viz. : — Nathaniel,  John,  Margaret,  Jane,  Lucy,  and  Anna. 
(The  families  of  the  sons,  John  and  William,  see  below.)  Colonel 


78 

John  Pyncheon,  the  father,  and  his  father,  were  men  of  great  improve- 
ment in  their  day,  both  in  the  county  and  town  wherein  they  lived,  as 
appears  from  records.  The  2d  Col.  John  Pyncheon  was  one  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies.  He  died  April  25,  1721. 
Margaret,  his  wife,  died  Nov.  n,  1716. 

4th  Generation.  COLONEL  JOHN  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Col.  John  and  Margaret  Pyncheon,  was  married  Feb.  18,  1702,  to 
Bashua  Taylor,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Westfield.  She 
was  born  Jan.  n,  1683.  Their  children  were — Elisabeth,  born  Dec. 
27,  1702,  died  Sept.  26,  1776.  William,  born  Nov.  n,  1703,  died 
Jan.  n,  1783.  John,  born  Feb.  7,  1705,  died  April  6,  1754.  Joseph, 
born  Feb.  8,  1705,  died  in  Boston.  Mary,  born  Oct.  10,  1706.  Bath- 
shua,  born  Jan.  i,  1708,  died  Jan.  5,  1760.  A  son,  born  June  19, 
1710,  and  died  within  an  hour.  Bathshua,  the  mother,  died  June  20, 
1710,  age  27.  Col.  John  Pyncheon,  the  father,  was  married  again 
Nov.  3,  1711,  to  Phebe  Sexton,  of  Enfield.  She  was  born  Jan.  7, 

1686.  Their  children — Martha,  born ,  died  Dec.  8,  1712. 

Edward,  born  April  6,  1713,  died  Nov.  3,  1777.  Nathaniel,  born 
March  3,  1715,  died  Oct.  10,  1722.  George,  born  April  20,  1717, 
died  June  26,  1797.  Charles,  born  Jan.  31,  1719,  died  Aug.  19, 

1783.  Margaret,  born — ,  died  Oct.  27,  1722.  Elisabeth  was 

•married  Feb.  6,  1721,  to  Benjamin  Colton,  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary 
Colton.  Mary  was  married  Aug.  12,  1726,  to  Joseph  Dwight,  who 
was  known  by  the  title  of  Brigadier  Dwight.  Bashua  was  married 
Feb.  18,  1730,  to  Robert  Harris.  Phebe,  the  second  wife  of  this 
Col.  John  Pyncheon,  died  Oct.  17,  1722.  He  died  July  12,  1742,  age 
68.  This  Col.  John  Pyncheon.  was  two  years  in  Harvard  College  ;  his 
grandfather  took  him  away,  and  procured  for  him  the  clerk's  office  at 
Springfield,  and  he  was  chosen  County  Register.  He  lived  some 
years  with  his  grandfather,  who  was  the  first  justice  of  the  court. 

4th  Generation.  COLONEL  WILLIAM  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son 
of  Col.  John  and  Margaret  Pyncheon,  served  an  apprenticeship  with  a 
brazier,  in  Boston.  At  21  years  of  age  he  came  to  Springfield.  He 
was  a  justice  of  the  court,  May  15,  1721.  He  was  married  to 
Catharine  Brewer,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Brewer  and  Catha- 
rine his  wife.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  Aug.  17,  1721,  died 
Aug.  4,  1755.  William,  born  Dec.  12,  1723.  Margaret,  born  Nov. 
24,  1727,  died  April  1772.  Daniel  John,  born  Oct.  7,  1733,  died 
April  22,  1754.  Joseph,  born  Oct.  30,  1737.  Sarah  was  married  to 
Col.  Josiah  Dwight,  of  Springfield,  and  had  no  children.  William  was 
educated  at  Harvard  College;  graduated  1743;  he  settled  at  Salem, 
in  the  practice  of  law,  and  died  in  that  town.  Margaret  was  married 
Jan.  i,  1750,  to  Major  Elijah  Williams  of  Deerfield.  Daniel  J.  died 
a  student  in  New  Haven  College,  April  22,  1754.  Joseph  was 
educated  at  New  Haven  College;  graduated  1757.  He  was  married 
to  Sarah  Ruggles,  daughter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Ruggles,  of  Gilford,  and 
settled  in  that  town.  Col.  William  Pyncheon,  the  father,  died  Jan.  i, 
1741.  Catherine,  his  widow,  died  April  10,  1747. 


79 

5th  Generation.  WILLIAM  PYNCHEON,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Col. 
John  and  Bathshua  Pyncheon  [page  186],  was  married  Dec.  14,  1738.  to 
Sarah  -Bliss,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Palatiah  and  Elisabeth  Bliss.  Their 
children— William,  born  Nov.  21,  1739,  died  March  24,  1808.  John, 
born  Sept.  20,  1742.  Sarah,  born  Oct.  5,  1751,  died  luly  26,  1826. 
(The  family  of  William,  see  page  187).  Sarah  was  married  Dec.  5, 
1780,10  David  White.  William  Pyncheon,  the  father,  died  Jan.  n, 
1783.  Sarah,  his  widow,  died  Feb.  21,  1796. 

5th  Generation.  The  Honorable  JOSEPH  PYNCHEON,' son  of  Col. 
John  and  Bathshua  Pynchdon,  was  educated  at  Harvard  College; 
graduated  1726  ;  preached  at  times,  and  studied  and  practiced  physic; 
settled  first,  at  Longmeadow ;  was  married  Oct.  13,  1748,  to  Mrs. 
Maiy  Cheney,  widow  of_  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cheney,  of  Brookfield,  and 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Colton,  of  Newton.  Their  children  were 
— Mary,  Rebecca,  Martha,  Margaret.  Joseph  Pyncheon,  the  father, 
soon  after  his  marriage,  removed  to  Boston. 

5th  Generation.  EDWARD  PYNCHEON,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Colonel  John  Pyncheon  and  Phebe  his  wife,  was  for  many  years 
County  Treasurer  and  Register.  He  was  married  Dec.  15,  1763,  to 
Mrs.  Rebecca  Bliss,  widow  of  Capt.  Luke  Bliss ;  her  maiden  name 
was  Stoughton  ;  they  died  without  issue.  He  died  Nov.  3,  1777,  leav- 
ing his  estate  to  his  kindred.  She  died  Nov.  5,  1810.  She  was  born 
March,  1721. 

5th  Generation.  CAPT.  GEORGE  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Col.  John  and  Phebe  Pyncheon,  was  married  Dec.  21,  1738,  to 
Hannah  Bartlett.  Their  children,  found  on  record — George,  born 
April  27,  1739.  Lovice,  born  Aug.  9,  1740.  Nathaniel,  born  Jan.  i, 
1743.  Walter,  born  Sept.  5,  1744.  Peter,  born  Aug.  30,  1746. 
Margaret,  born  March  19,  1747.  Hannah,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  10, 
1751.  Capt.  George  Pyncheon  was  married  again  to  Abigail  Pease, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Midwell  Pease,  of  Enfield.  Their  children 
—Peter,  born  March  6,  1756.  Henry  [page  187],  born  Feb.  24,  1758. 
Henry,  born  Dec.  31,  1759.  Abigail,  born  Jan.  i,  1762.  Peter,  born 
Dec.  22,  1763.  Capt.  George  Pyncheon,  the  father,  died  June  26, 
1797.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  Sept.  9,  1810.  Abigail,  the  daughter, 
was  married  June  19,  1780,  to  Jeremiah  Platt  of  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut. 

5th  Generation.  COLONEL  CHARLES  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  com- 
monly in  his  day  known  by  the  title  of  Doctor  Pyncheon,  being  an 
approved  physician,  was  son  of  Col.  John  and  Phebe  Pyncheon,  and 
was  married  July  30,  1749,  to  Anne  Dwight,  daughter  of  Henry 
Dwight,  of  Hatfield.  Their  children— Mary,  born  Feb.  i,  1753,  died 
Oct.  23,  1802.  Anna,  born  Dec.  i,  1754,  died  Dec.  26,  1797.  Mary 
was  married  May  9,  1782,  to  the  Hon.  Samuel  Lyman,  who  died  June 
6,  1802.  Anna  was  married  May,  1786,  to  Colonel  Joseph  Williams, 
and  died  without  issue.  Col.  Charles  Pyncheon,  the  father,  died  Aug. 
19.  1783.  Anna,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  22,  1802. 

6th  Generation.     MAJOR  WILLIAM  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son 


8o 

of  William  and  Sarah  Pyncheon,  was  married  Nov.  13,  1766,  to  Lucy 
Harris,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Robert  Harris,  and  Bathshua,  his  wife. 
Their  children — Erastus,  born  Oct.  19,  1767.  Stephen,  born  Jan. 
31,  1769.  Loice,  born  Oct.  6,  1770,  died  June  8,  1781.  Bathshua, 
born  July  27,  1772.  Edward,  born  Nov.  14.  1774,  died  March  17, 
1830.  William,  born  Dec.  n,  1776.  Joseph,  born  Aug.  23,  1779. 
Loice,  born  Jan.  i,  1782,  died  Jan.  3,  1782.  Major  William' 
Pyncheon,  the  father,  died  March  24,  1808.  Bathshua,  the  daughter, 
was  married  May,  1799,  to  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  of  Suffield. 

5th  Generation.  JOHN  PYNCHEON,  of  Springfield,  son  of  William 
and  Sarah  Pyncheon  [page  188],  was  married  Dec.  8,  1768,  to  Lucy 
Horton,  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Horton  and  Mary  his  wife,  of 
Springfield.  Their  children — John,  born  Nov.  12,  1769.  Lucy,  born 
March  i,  1771.  Lucy,  Dec.  -16,  1772.  Daniel,  born  March  3,  1775. 
Daniel  born  Feb.  12,  1781.  [Vacant  to  page  190.] 

JOHN  RUMRILL,  of  Enfield,  son  of  Simon  and  Sarah  Rumrill,  was 
married  Feb.  14,  1728,  to  Abigail  Chandler,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Lydia  Chandler,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — John,  born  Aug.  16, 
1728,  died  Jan.  19,  1809.  Abigail,  born  March  i,  1730,  died  Feb. 
1787.  Martha,  born  Oct.  14,  1731.  Nehemiah,  born  Sept.  5,  1733, 
died  Jan.  14,  1805.  Sarah,  born  June  6,  1735,  died  Dec.  n,  1805. 
Lydia,  born  Feb.  18,  1737.  Mehittable,  born  April  6,  1739,  died 
Nov.  n,  1809.  Hannah,  born  March  19,  1741,  died  1809.  Simeon 
and  Henry,  born  July  3,  1743.  Ebenezer,  born  July  16,  1745,  died 
Dec.  17,  1801.  John  Rumrill,  the  father,  died  Nov.  28,  1770,  age  66. 
Abigail,  his  widow,  died  Jan.  21,  1772. 

JOHN  RUMRILL,  of  Enfield,  son  of  John  and  Abigail  Rumrill  above, 
was  married  Nov.  18,  1762,  to  Sarah  Bliss,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  and 
Sarah  Bliss,  of  Longmeadow.  Their  children — John,  born  April  27, 
1763,  drowned  Oct.  n,  1789.  Sarah,  born  Sept.  5,  1764.  Elijah, 
born  June  14,  1766.  Silence,  born  Feb.  3,  1768.  Amasa,  born 
March  14,  1770.  Abigail,  born  March  22,  1772.  Catharine,  born 
March  17,  1774.  Martha,  born  June  14,  1777,  died  June  10,  1809. 
Asahel,  born  Aug.  20,  1781.  John  Rumrill,  the  father,  died  Jan.  19, 
1809 

NEHEMIAH  RUMRILL,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and  Abigail 
Rumrill  above,  was  married  March  9,  1758,  to  Alice  Parsons,  daugh- 
ter of  Nathaniel  and  Alice  Parsons,  of  Enfield.  Their  children — Pene- 
lope, born  Aug.  2,  1758,  died  Aug.  20,  1758.  Penelope,  born  Aug. 
X3>  J759-  Alice,  born  Nov.  27,  1761.  Asa,  born  May  8,  1764. 
Susannah,  born  Nov.  28,  1766,  died  July  28,  1767.  Levi,  born  June 
29,  1768.  Susannah,  born  Jan.  14,  1771,  died  Feb.  27,  1786.  Alex- 
ander, born  Aug.  18,  1773.  Lucy,  born  Feb.  13,  1776.  Ruth,  born 
Dec.  21,  1778.  Margaret,  born  April  u,  1781.  Alice  Rumrill,  the 
mother,  died  Nov.  18,  1804.  Nehemiah  Rumrill,  the  father,  died  Jan. 
14,  1805. 

EBENEZER  RUMRILL,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and  Abigail 
Rumrill  [page  191],  was  married  Dec.  i,  1767,  to  Eleanor  Cooley, 


8i 

daughter  of  Josiah  and  Experience  Cooley.  Their  children— Simeon, 
born  March  14,  1768.  Elam,  born  Nov.  8,  1770.  Eleanor,  born  July 
6,  1772.  Ebenezer,  born  Sept.  n,  1774,  died  April  i,  1775.  Eben- 
ezer,  born  Dec.  7,  1775,  died  Sept.  12,  1777.  Ebenezer,  born  Sept. 
19,  1777,  died  Nov.  8,  1777.  Eleanor,  the  mother,  died  Oct.  21,  1777. 
Ebenezer  Rumrill,  the  father,  was  married  again  Sept.  3,  1780,  to 
Mary  Bliss,  widow  of  Asahel  Bliss  and  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Mary 
Chandler.  Their  children — Triphene,  born  Sept.  24,  1784.  Betsey, 
born  Nov.  15,  1787.  Ebenezer  Rumrill,  the  father,  died  Dec.  17, 
1801.  Mary,  his  widow,  died  Aug.  17,  1810. 

LEVI  RUMRILL,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nehemiah  and  Alice  Rum- 
rill, was  married  April  12,  1792,  to  Elisabeth  Bliss,  daughter  of  Eben- 
ezer and  Sarah  Bliss.  Their  children — Lorin,  born  May  29,  1793. 
Asa,  born  Feb.  22,  1795.  Betsey,  born  Jan.  16,  1797.  Chauncy, 
born  Nov.  27,  1798.  Miranda,  born  July  2,  1801.  Sophia,  born 
June  13,  1803.  Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  April  22,  1816.  [Vacant 
to  page  193.] 

EMERY  RUSSEL,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  William  and  Sarah  Russel, 
of  Somers,  was  born  March  19,  1750,  and  was  married  to  Eleanor 
Smith  of  Ashford.  Their  children — Emory,  born  April  6,  1784. 
Eleanor,  born  Feb.  2,  1786.  Emery,  born  March  15,  1789.  Emery 
Russel,  the  father,  died  Sept.  14,  1807.  Eleanor,  the  daughter,  was 
married  Oct.  27,  1803,  to  Jehiel  Spencer,  of  Somers,  son  of  Jonathan 
Spencer. 

JOSEPH  SCOTT,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Moses  and  Mary  Scott,  of 
Rowley,  State  of  Massachusetts,  was  born  March  7,  1768,  and  was 
married  Dec.  16,  1798,  to  Eunice  Merrit,  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Zilpha  Merrit,  of  Brooklyn,  State  of  Connecticut.  Their  children- 
Joseph,  born  April  30,  1801.  George,  born  Nov.  4,  1802,  died  April 
12,  1827.  Harriet  and  Emily,  born  April  n,  1805.  William,  born 
April  26,  1807.  Mary,  born  June  27,  1809.  Moses,  born  May  30, 
1812.  The  five  first  of  the  above  children  were  born  in  Brooklyn, 
Connecticut.  Eunice,  born  April  26,  1818. 

ROBERT  SILCOCK,  of  Longmeadow  [page  194].'  He  came  from  the 
city  of  Worcester,  in  England.  He  came  a  soldier  in  the  British 
service  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  Being  a  weaver,  he  followed  that 
occupation,  and  was  married  May  i,  1781,  to  Sarah  Stebbins,  daugh- 
ter of  Jonathan  and  Abigail  Stebbins.  She  died  March  19,  1825, 
age  71.  Their  children — John,  born  Feb.  15,  1782.  Sarah,  born 
Nov.  19,  1783,  died  Sept.  4,  1819,  age  36.  Mary,  born  July  10,  1785, 
died  Oct.  20,  1840,  married  Seth  Taylor.  William  Collin,  born  Feb. 
16,  1787.  Nancy,  born  June  30,  1789.  Clarissa,  born  Feb.  i,  1792. 
Robert,  born  Feb.  2,  1794,  died  Feb.  24,  1818.  Phebe,  born  Nov.  28, 
1795,  died  Nov.  4,  1819.  Lyman,  born  Feb.  21,  1798.  Robert  Sil- 
cock,  the  father,  died  March  21,  1806,  age  49;  born  May  1757.  Clar- 
issa married  Ethan -Taylor.  Mary,  the  daughter,  was  married  Sept. 
21,  1806,  to  Seth  Taylor.  Nancy  married . 

ISRAEL  SPENCER,  of   Longmeadow,   son  of  Jonathan    Spencer  of 


82 

Somers  \_page  195],  was  married  Jan.  19,  1775,  to  Ruth  Wright,  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  Wright,  of  Somers.  He  died  Jan.  22,  1825,  aged  77. 
Their  children — Ruth  and  Jerusha,  born  Aug.  5,  1779.  Jerusha  died 
Oct.  5,  1834,  aged  55.  Ruth,  the  daughter,  was  married  Feb.  26, 
1796,  to  Micah  King.  Jerusha  was  married  Jan.  8,  1802,  to  Hervy 
Ellis,  who  died  Nov.  3,  1810  [see  page  128]. 

ist  Generation.  ROWLAND  STEBBINS  \_page  196],  as  far  as  is 
known,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  ancestor  of  all  of  his  name  in 
New  England.  He  came  to  Roxbury,  and  from  thence  to  Springfield ; 
probably  he  removed  to  Northampton,  as  his  death  is  recorded  in  that 
town.  He  died  Dec.  14,  1671.  By  the  records  it  appears  that  Law- 
rence Bliss  came  into  possession  of  his  home-lot  in  Springfield. 
Thomas  and  John  were  his  sons.  Thomas  settled  in  Springfield,  and 
his  and  some  of  his  descendants'  families  are  hereafter  entered.  John 
Stebbins  married  and  had  children  there.  He  removed  to  Northamp- 
ton, and  died  March  7,  1678.  Elisabeth  Stebbins,  probable  daughter 
of  Rowland,  was  married  March  2,  1647,  to  John  Clark.  Sarah  Steb- 
bins, probably  another  daughter,  was  married  to  Thomas  Merrick, 
Nov.  14,  1639.  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Rowland  Stebbins,  died  Oct.  4, 
1649. 

2d  Generation.  LIEUT.  THOMAS  STEBBINS,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Rowland  Stebbins,  was  married  Nov.  1645,  to  Hannah  Wright. 
Their  children — Samuel,  born  Sept.  19,  1646,  died  July  13,  1708. 
Thomas,  b'orn  July  31,  1648,  died  Dec.  29,  1605.  Joseph,  born  Oct. 
24,  1652,  died  Oct.  15,  1728.  Sarah,  born  Aug.  18,  1654,  died  Nov. 
6,  1721.  Edward,  born  April  14,  1656,  died  Oct.  31,  1712.  Benja- 
min, born  April  n,  1658.  Rowland,  born  Oct.  2,  1660,  died  Oct. 
24,  1661.  Hannah,  born  Oct.  i,  1660.  Hannah,  the  mother,  died 
Oct.  16,  1660.  Lieut.  Thomas  Stebbins  was  married  to  Abigail  Mun, 
Dec.  14,  1676,  and  died  Sept.  5,  1683.  (The  families  of  the  sons  see 
hereafter.)  Sarah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan.  2,  1672,  to  Samuel 
Bliss,  of  Longmeadow. 

3d  Generation.  SAMUEL  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Thomas 
and  Hannah  Stebbins  above,  was  married  July  22,  1679,  to  Joanna 
Lamb,  daughter  of  John  and  Joanna  Lamb.  Their  children — Thomas, 
born  Dec.  26,  1681,  died  Jan.  3,  1682.  Samuel,  born  May  13,  1683, 
and  died  June  17,  1767.  Joanna,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  8,  1683. 
Samuel  Stebbins,  the  father,  was  married  again  Dec.  10,  1685,  to 
Abigail  Brooks,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Brooks.  Their  chil- 
dren— John,  born  Feb.  13,  1686.  Ebenezer,  born  Nov.  30,  1688. 
William,  born  July  27,  1693,  died  Oct.  30,  1776.  Abigail,  born  Nov. 
30,  1695.  Joanna,  born  March  4,  1697.  Thomas,  born  Aug.  10, 
1698.  Benjamin,  born  Dec.  10,  1700.  Mercy,  born  Jan.  19,  1705, 
died  Aug.  4,  1780.  (The  families  of  Samuel  and  William,  see  page 
198.)  John  and  Thomas  settled  in  Brimfield.  Samuel,  the  father, 
died  July  13,  1708.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  March  13,  1764.  She 
was  born  Jan.  25,  1666.  Abigail,  the  daughter,  was  married  Aug.  i, 


83 

1717,  to  John  Hitchcock,  son  of  John  and  Mary  Hitchcock.  Joanna 
was  married  May  31,  1720,  to  Mathew  Noble,  of  Westfield  Mary 
was  married  Dec.  22,  1726,  to  Lieut.  John  Colton,  of  Longmeadow  ' 
3d  Generation.  THOMAS  STEBBINS,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Lieut. 
Thomas  and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Dec.  21,  1672,  to  Abigail 
Mun.  Their  children— Thomas,  born  Jan.  28,  1673,  died 'March  20 

1675.  Abigail,  born  May  27,  1675,  died  March  15,  1692.     Hannah' 
born  Dec.  29,  1677,  died  Jan.  10,  1698.     Hannah,  born  Dec.  22,  1680! 
Thomas,  born  Nov.  30,  1682,  died  Sept.  9,  1684.     Sarah,  born  April 
17,  1686.     Mary,  born  Dec.  i,  1688.     Abigail,  the  mother,  died  Feb. 
6,  1692.     Thomas,  the  father,  died  Dec.  7,  1695. 

3d  Generation.  JOSEPH  STEBBINS,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Lieut. 
Thomas  and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Nov.  27,  1673,  to  Sarah 
Dorchester,  daughter  of  Anthony  Dorchester.  Their  children— Joseph, 
born  Oct.  7,  1674,  drowned  Sept.  29,  1722.  Benjamin,  born  Jan.  23' 

1676.  Thomas,  born  July  13,  1679,  died  June  29,  1713.    John,   born 
Sept.  22,  1681,  died  Nov.  n,  1686.    Mehittable,  born  Nov.  27,  1683, 
married  Jonathan  Strong.    Ebenezer,  born  June  8,  1686.    Sarah,  born 
June  8,  1688,  married  David  Chapin.   John,  born  Nov.  8,  1690.    Han- 
nah, born  Nov.  9,   1692.    Martha,  born  June  28,   1697.     Mehittable 
was   married  Nov.   21,   1705    to   Jonathan   Strong,  of  Northampton. 
Sarah  was  married   Nov.  21,   1705,  to  David  Chapin,   of  Springfield. 
Joseph  Stebbins,  the  father,  died  Oct.  15,  1728. 

3dt  Generation.  EDWARD  STEBBINS,  of  Springfield,  son  of 
Thomas  and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  April  1679,  to  Sarah 
Graves.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  Feb.  20,  1681.  Thomas,  born 
Oct.- 1685,  died  Jan.  31,  1686.  Thomas,  born  March  7,  1687.  Mary, 
born  Sept.  n,  1689.  John,  born  Jan.  10,  1692.  Mary,  born 
June  2,  1695,  died  April  1698.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  June  12, 
1700.  Edward  Stebbins  was  married  again  Oct.  18,  1701,  to  Mary 
Colton,  widow  of  Isaac  Colton,  and  he  died  Oct.  31,  1712.  She  died 
at  her  son's,  George  Colton,  in  Longmeadow,  Aug.  30,  1743,  age  91. 
Edward  Stebbins,  early  in  the  spring  1676,  was  taken  by  the  Indians 
at  Longmeadow,  while  he  was  with  Samuel  Bliss,  his  brother-in-law, 
and  he  was  carried  to  the  falls  above  Deerfield,  and,  with  a  youth 
named  Gilbert,  made  his  escape  from  the  Indians  and  gave  informa- 
tion of  their  place  of  residence,  whereupon  the  English  went  and  de- 
stroyed three  hundred  or  more  of  them  \_page  198]. 

3d  Generation.  BENJAMIN  STEBBINS,  of  West  Springfield,  -son  of 
Lieut.  Thomas  aud  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Oct.  9,  1682,  to 
Abigail  Denton.  Their  child — Abigail,  born  Oct.  29,  1685.  Abigail, 
the  mother,  died  Aug.  24,  1689.  Benjamin  Stebbins  was  married 
May  8,  1701,  to  widow  Martha  Ball.  Their  children — Benjamin,  born 
March  8,  1702.  Francis,  born  Nov.  19,  1703.  Martha,  born  Nov.  14, 
1705.  Miriam,  born  Oct.  8,  1707.  Mary,  born  June  25,  1713.  Mercy, 
born  July  24,  171.5. 

4th  Generation.     SAMUEL  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Sam- 


uel  and  Joanna  Stebbins,  was  married  Jan.  30,  1707,  to  Hannah 
Hitchcock,  daughter  of  Luke  Hitchcock,  Esq.,  and  Sarah  his  wife. 
Their  children — Samuel,  born  June  19,  1708,  died  Feb.  10,  1754. 
Jonathan,  born  Oct.  24,  1709,  died  July  n,  1788.  Stephen,  born 
Oct.  16,  1711,  died  Feb.  26,  1768.  Hannah,  born  June  10,  1713. 
Aaron,  born  Feb.  20,  1715,  died  May  15,  1808.  Joanna,  born 
Nov.  i,  1716,  died  Sept.  23,  1800.  Moses,  born  Dec.  4,  1718. 
Luke,  born  Jan.  28,  1722.  Sarah,  born  Nov.  8,  1725,  died  Nov. 
25,  1725.  Nehemiah,  born  April  14,  1727.  Thankful,  born  March  4, 
1730,  died  Oct.  23,  1733.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  in  pages  199, 
200  and  201.)  Hannah,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan.  13,  1736,  to 
Moses  Parsons,  of  Enfield.  Joanna  was  married  Jan.  31,  1740,  to 
James  Firman,  of  Enfield.  Hannah  Stebbins,  the  mother,  died  May 

24,  1756.     Samuel   Stebbins,  the  father,   was  married  again  Jan.  3, 
1758,  to  Sarah  Allin.     She  died  Feb.  26,  1763,  and  he   died  June  17, 
1767,  and  was  buried  at  the  time  of  raising  the  meeting-house. 

4th  Generation.  LIEUT.  WILLIAM  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son 
of  Samuel  and  Abigail  Stebbins,  was  married  March  15,  1716,  to 
Mercy  Knowlton,  of  Springfield.  Their  children,  as  found  on  record, 
were — Benjamin,  died  Dec.  4,  1718.  Mercy,  died  June  n,  1720.  Wil- 
liam, born ,  died  March  29,  1725.  William,  born  April  22, 

1726,  died  April  20,  1797.  Ruth,  born  July  26,  1728,  died  Aug.  16, 
1728.  Ezra,  born  Aug.  16,  1731,  died  Feb.  5,  1796.  Zadoch,  born 
Nov.  10,  1732,  died  Nov.  10,1732.  Mercy  died  Jan.  15,  1743.  Mercy, 
the  mother,  died  March  3,  1751.  Lieut.  William  Stebbins  was  married 
again  in  1754  to  the  widow  Thankful  Pond,  of  Northford,  a  parish  in 
the  town  of  Branford.  He  died  Oct.  30,  1776,  and  she  returned  to 
her  children  in  Connecticut.  (The  families  of  William  and  Ezra,  the 
sons,  seeinflages  201  and  202.)  [Page  199.] 

5th  Generation.  SAMUEL  STEBBINS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  March  22,  1734,  to  Mary  Knowl- 
ton, of  Springfield.  Their  children — Mary,  born  Aug.  23,  1735,  died 
Aug.  27,  1742.  Seth,  born  Jan.  8,  1739,  died  Sept.  i,  1742.  Thank- 
ful, born  Feb.  14,  1737.  Noah,  born  Oct.  13,  1741.  Mary,  born  March 

25,  1744.    Mercy,  born  Feb.  12,  1747.     Mary,  the  mother,  died  Aug. 
22,  1750,  at  Longmeadow.     Samuel  Stebbins,  the  father,  was  married 
again  Nov.  18,  1750,  to  the  widow  Sarah  Jones,  daughter  of  Deacon 
James  Wood,  of  Somers.     Their  children — Samuel,  born  Sept.  8,  1751. 
Seth,  born  July  17,    1753,  died  July  27,  1753.     Samuel  Stebbins,  the 
father,  died  at  Somers  Feb.  10,  1754.     Thankful  was  married  May  5, 
1757,  to  Paul  Langdon,  of  Wilbraham.     Mary  was  married  April  21, 
1763,  to  Enos  Stebbins,   son  of  Jonathan   Stebbins,  of  Longmeadow. 
They  settled  in  Wilbraham. 

5th  Generation.  JONATHAN  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of 
Samuel  and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Dec.  n,  1735,  to  Margaret 
Bliss,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Bliss.  Their  children — Jon- 
athan, born  Sept.  28,  1736,  died  Dec.  7,  1762.  Bliss,  born  May  30, 
1738.  Enos,  born  July  26,  1740.  Margaret,  born  Aug.  28,  1741,  died 


85 

Oct.  6,  1807.  Eunice,  born  Nov.  25,  1742,  died  May  2,  1786.  Ann, 
born  Feb.  8,  1744,  died  April  17,  1787.  Margaret,  the  mother,  died 
June  1 6,  1744.  Jonathan  Stebbins  was  married  again  Oct.  18,  1745, 
to  Sarah  Mosley,  of  Westfield.  She  had  one  child  still-born,  Nov.  14, 
1746,  and  died  Nov.  29,  1746.  Jonathan  Stebbins  was  married  again 
Nov.  5,  1747,  to  Abigail  Hale,  daughter  of  John  and  Thankful  Hale, 
of  West  Springfield.  She  was  born  Jan.  18,  1721.  Their  children — 
Abigail,  born  Oct.  29,  1748,  died  June  4,  1811.  Medad,  born  Feb.  4, 
1751,  died  Sept.  9,  1804.  Sarah,  born  March  22,  1752,  died  June  2, 
1754.  Sarah,  born  Sept.  16,  1754.  Rhoda,  born  July  15,  1756,  died 
Oct.  9,  1756.  Lewis,  born  Jan.  10,  1758,  died  Oct.  9,  1758.  Rhoda, 
born  July  16,  1759.  Lewis,  born  March  22,  1761,  died  June  15,  1778. 
The  sons  Enos  and  Medad  had  families.  Margaret  was  married  May 
12,  1765,  to  Noah  Stebbins.  Eunice  was  married  Nov.  27,  1766,  to 
Enoch  Burt.  Ann  was  married  Feb.  3,  1774,  to  Thomas  Hale.  Abigail 
was  married  Feb.  15,  1770,  to  Moses  Bartlett,  of  Wilbraham.  Sarah 
was  married  May  i,  1781,  to  Robert  Silcock.  Rhoda  was  married 
Oct.  6,  1784,  to  John  Robinson,  of  Granville.  Jonathan  died  in  New 
York  on  his  return  from  Havana,  Dec.  7,  1762.  Bliss  received  part 
of  a  college  education,  and  died  a  common  stroller.  Jonathan  Steb- 
bins, the  father,  died  July  n,  1788.  Abigail,  the  mother,  died  May  i, 
1812,  age  91  years,  Jan.  29  past  [page  200]. 

5th  Generation.  STEPHEN  STEBBINS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Oct.  9,  1733,  to  Sarah  Bliss, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Bliss.  Their  children — Sarah,  born 
May  15,  1734,  died  July  23,  1755.  Eunice,  born  Dec.  15,  1735,  died 
Jan.  21, 1737.  Eldad,  born  Aug.  13,  1737.  Phinehas,  born  May  19,  1739, 
died  April  i,  1807.  Zadock,  born  Aug.  12,  1741.  Eunice,  born  Nov. 
15,  1743.  Ruth,  born  Feb.  10,  1746.  Hannah,  born  Aug.  10,  1748. 
Stephen,  born  April  28,  1752.  Gad,  born  Feb.  12,  1756.  Sarah  was 
married  to  John  Langdon,  Feb.  1755.  Eunice  was  married  to. David 
Lion,  May  17,  1764.  Stephen  Stebbins,  the  father,  died  Feb.  26, 1768. 

5th  Generation.  AARON  STEBBINS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Oct.  18,  1744,  to  Mary  Wood, 
daughter  of  Dea.  James  Wood,  of  Somers.  Their  children — Mary, 
born  June  19,  1748.  Aaron,  born  March  20,  1750.  James,  born  Dec. 
31.  1751,  did  Sept  14,  1759.  Seth,  born  Sept.  6,  1754.  Martha,  born 
Feb.  15,  1757,  died  Sept.  9,  1759.  James,  born  Oct.  6,  1760.  Mary, 
the  daughter,  was  married  to  John  Sexton,  of  Somers,  Aug.  31,  1768. 
Aaron  Stebbins,  the  father,  removed  to  Vershire,  Vermont,  and  died 
May  15,  1808,  age  93. 

5th  Generation.  MOSES  STEBBINS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  Samuel 
and  Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  June  27,  1749,  to  Dorcas  Hale,  of 
Enfield,  daughter  of  John  and  Thankful  Hale.  Their  children- 
Moses,  born  May  3,  1750.  Calvin,  born  July  30,  1751.  Esther  born 
Jan.  26,  1755.  Ambrose,  born  Oct.  17,  1756.  Dorcas,  born  Peb  17, 
1759,  died  April  1759.  David,  born  Feb.  29,  1760.  Timothy,  born 
April  17,  1762.  Gains,  born  Oct.  5,  1763.  Dorcas,  born  Aug.  2,1765. 
Chester,  born  Jan.  23,  1769. 


86 

5th  Generation.  LUKE  STEBBINS,  son  of  Samuel  and  Hannah 
Stebbins  [/#£v?2oi],  was  married  May  i,  1755,  to  Sarah  Norton,  of 
Kensington,  Conn.  Their  children — Eleanor,  born  Aug.  3,  1756,  died 
May  4,  1771.  Samuel,  born  Aug.  9,  1758.  Parsis,  born  Nov.  27, 
1760.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  at  Kensington,  Feb.  18,  1764,  aged  26 
years  and  eight  months.  Parsis  was  married  to  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Gaylord,  of  Hartland,  Conn.  Luke  Stebbins,  in  the  former  part  of 
his  life,  lived  in  Boston  as  a  store-keeper;  from  thence  he  removed  to 
Kensington,  Conn.,  and  set  up  a  store,  and  from  thence  to  Middle- 
town,  where  he  kept  a  tavern,  and  failing  in  business,  he  became  a 
schoolmaster.  He  collected  and  published  an  account  of  the  descend- 
ants of  his  father  to  Sept.  19,  1771  :  the  number  of  births,  138.  He 
died  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  not  far  from  the  year  1775. 

5th  Generation.  DEA.  NEHEMIAH  STEBBINS,  son  of  Samuel  and 
Hannah  Stebbins,  was  married  Sept.  1750,  to  Hannah  Chandler, 
daughter  of  Dea.  Henry  Chandler  and  Hannah  his  wife,  of  P^nfield. 
She  died  March  12,  1751.  Dea.  Nehemiah  Stebbins  was  married 
again  Oct.  3,  1753,  to  Elizabeth  Morgan,  of  Springfield.  Their  chil- 
dren— Hannah,  born  Jan.  17,  1755.  Selah,  born  April  15,  1756. 
Lucy,  born  Aug.  17,  1757,  died  Aug.  25,  1757.  Lucy,  born  April  9, 
1759,  died  April  20,  1759.  Elizabeth,  born  March  30,  1760,  died  Nov. 
19,  1762.  Loice,  born  Aug.  21,  1762.  Samuel,  born  April  8,  1766. 
Elizabeth,  born  Sept.  n,  1768.  Achsah,  born  Aug.  n,  1770.  Dea- 
con Nehemiah  Stebbins,  with  his  family,  removed  from  Longmeadow 
to  Greenwich,  Mass.,  and  was  a  deacon  of  a  church  in  that  town,  and 

had  the  commission  of  a  justice  of  the  peace.  His  wife  dying 

and  he  being  subject  to  hypochondriacal  gloominess,  drowned  himself 
in  a  well. 

5th  Generation.  WILLIAM  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mercy  Stebbins,  was  married  May  8,  1753,  to  Eunice  Wil- 
liams,.daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  Williams,  of  Longmeadow. 
Their  children — William,  born  June  26,  1756,  died  Feb.  27,  1762. 
Stephen  Williams,  born  June  26,  1758.  Eunice,  born  Nov.  16,  1760. 
Stephen  Williams,  the  son,  graduated  at  New  Haven,  1781,  and  settled 
in  the  ministry  at  Stratford.  Eunice,  the  daughter,  was  married  Sept. 
1785,  to  Rev.  Joseph  Barker,  of  Middleborough.  William  Stebbins, 
the  father,  died  April  20,  1797.  Eunice  Stebbins,  his  widow,  died 
Oct.  31,  1805,  in  Middleborough,  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Barker. 

5th  Generation.  EZRA  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Lieut. 
William  and  Mercy  Stebbins  \_page  202],  was  married  Feb.  24,  1757, 
to  Margaret  Chapin,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Anna  Chapin  of  Lucl- 
low.  Their  children — Zadock,  born  Feb.  13,  1758,  died  Dec.  17,  1803. 
Ezra,  born  Aug.  19,  1760,  died  July  25,  1819.  Mercy,  born  March  16, 
1763,  died  Nov.  4,  1807.  Anna,  born  March  27,  1766,  died  Dec.  8, 
1824.  William,  born  June  12,  1768.  Ruth,  born  Jan.  17,  1771,  died 
Sept.  18,  1776.  Eber,  born  March  2,  1773.  Knowlton,  born  Oct. 
1774,  died  Nov.  18,  1774.  Knowlton,  born  May  15,  1776.  Ezra 
Stebbins,  the  father,  died  Feb.  5,  1796.  Margaret,  the  mother,  died 


87 

April  26,  1808.  Mercy  was  married  April  26,  1785,  to  Stephen 
Cooley.  Anna  was  married  March  i,  1787,  to  Stephen  Taylor. 

6th  Generation.  MEDAD  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jona- 
than and  Abigail  Stebbins,  was  married  April  25,  1776,  to  Sarah  Keep, 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Keep.  She  died  Nov.  3,  1838,  age 
86.  Their  children — Chester,  born  Sept  i,  1776.  Mary,  born  Nov. 
22,  1779,  died  May  9,  1834.  Lewis,  born  June  6,  1782.  Jonathan 
Chauncy,  born  Feb.  14,  1787.  Samuel,  born  April  10,  1791.  Henry, 
born  Sept.  22,  1793.  Medad  Stebbins,  the  father,-  died  Sept.  9,  1804. 
Sarah,  the  mother,  was  married  again  to  Lieut.  Noah  Stebbins,  of 
Wilbraham,  Oct.  13,  1808.  Mary,  the  daughter,  was  married  April  4, 
1803,  to  Stephen  Avery. 

6th  Generation.  ZADOCK  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ezra 
and  Margaret  Stebbins  \_page  203],  was  married  Jan.  30,  1783,  to 
Urania  Burt,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Hannah  Burt.  Their  children — 
Ruth,  born  June  7,  1784,  died  June  25.  1814.  Urania,  born  March 
22,  1786.  Parcas,  born  Dec.  30,  1787.  Rowland,  born  Aug.  3,  1789. 
Francis,  born  Sept.  8,  1791,  died  April  12,  1809.  Peggy,  born  June 
8,  1794,  died  Oct.  16,  1795.  Pamelia,  born  Sept  4,  1801.  Zadock 
Stebbins,  the  father,  died  Dec.  17,  1803.  Urania,  the  mother,  was 
married  again  March  5,  1806,  to  Simeon  White,  of  South  Hadleigh. 
Ruth,  the  daughter,  was  married  March  25,  1804,  to  Ethan  Colton. 
Urania  was  married  Dec.  i,  1808,  to  Ebenezer  Smith,  of  Granby. 
Parcas  was  married  to  Quartus  White,  of  South  Hadleigh. 

6th  Generation.  EZRA  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ezra  and 
Margaret  Stebbins,  was  married  March  26,  1799,  to  Margaret  Bliss, 
daughter  of  Aaron  and  Miriam  Bliss.  Their  children — John,  born 
May  22,  1802,  died  at  Boston.  Aaron,  born  Dec.  29,  1804.  Ezra 
Stebbins,  the  father,  died  July  25,  1819;  his  widow  was  married  to 
Stephen  Cooley,  and  died  Oct.  15,  1831. 

6th  Generation.  WILLIAM  STEBBINS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Ezra 
and  Margaret  Stebbins,  was  married  Oct.  23,  1788,  to  Margaret  Newel, 
daughter  of  Dea.  Abijah  Newel,  of  Monson,  and  Hepsibah  his  wife.  She 
died  Aug.  5,  1825.  William,  born  May  i,  1789.  Removed  to  Roches- 
ter. N.Y.  Cynthia,  born  Nov.  14,  1791.  Jared  Newel,  born  July  10, 
1794.  Ezra  and  Peggy,  born  June  21,  1796.  Eber,  born  Nov.  14. 
1798.  Anne,  born  April  25,  1801.  Harrison,  born  April  18,  1803. 
Eunice,  born  Aug.  8,  1805.  Albert,  born  June  4,  1808.  Cynthia  was 
married  Nov.  21,  1811,  to  Jonathan  Bowker.  [Vacant  to  page  206.] 

BARRET  STEEL  of  Longmeadow,  was  married  Dec.  30,  1697,  to 
Mary  Brooks,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Brooks,  of  Springfield. 
Their  children,  Mary,  born  Oct.  27,  1698.  Hannah,  born  Feb.  1700, 
•  died  March  17,  1700.  Hannah,  born  March  14,  1701.  Mercy,  born 
March  6,  1703.  John,  born  March  9,  1707,  died  Feb.  21,  1793. 
Thankful,  born  Sept.,  1708.  Abigail,  born  Nov.  3,  1710,  died  Nov.  3, 
1713.  Samuel,  born  Oct.  21,  1713.  Barret  Steel,  the  father,  died 

Dec.  4,  1713. 
JOHN  STEEL,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Barret  and  Mary  Steel  above, 


88 

was  married  March  7,  1728,  to  Abigail  Brooks,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
and  Mary  Brooks;  she  was  born  Dec.  3,  1706.  Their  children — John, 

born  .  Abigail,  born  Dec.  4,  1731.  Rhoda,  born  . 

Mary,  born .  Aaron,  born  July  13,  1739,  died  Nov.  28,  1777. 

Seth,  born  Dec.  20,  1741.  Solomon,  born .  Ann,  born—  — . 

Reuben,  born  Sept.  14,  1746.  Justin,  born  Aug.  13,  1749.  Squire, 
born  Aug.  26,  1752.  Abigail,  the  daughter,  was  married  June  26, 
1751,  to  Amaziah  Sanderson.  Rhoda  was  married  March  8,  1754,  to 
Robert  Sanderson.  Mary  was  married  to  Stephen  Chandler :  pub- 
lished May  9,  1752.  Ann  was  married  April  10,  1758,  to  Samuel 
Warner  of  Wilbraham.  N.  B. — John  Steel,  the  father,  being  much 
abroad  in  the  wars,  and  his  family  living  in  different  places,  his  chil- 
dren were  not  recorded  regularly.  He  was  maintained  for  several 
years  as  a  pauper  by  the  town  of  Springfield,  and  died  in  Longmeadovv 
at  the  house  of  Ezra  Stebbins,  Feb.  21,  1793. 

AARON  STEEL  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  John  and  Abigail  Steel 
above,  was  married  Nov.  15,  1763,  to  Sarah  Rumrill,  daughter  of  John 
and  Abigail  Rumrill.  Their  children — Seth,  born  Jan.  28,  1765.  Abi- 
gail, born  Aug.  22,  1766.  Sarah,  born  July  23,  1768,  died  Jan.  23. 
1858.  Aaron,  born  March  7,  1771.  Mary,  born,  Feb.  17,  1773.  (The 
families  of  the  sons,  see  in  page  207.)  Abigail  was  married  June  i. 
1785,  to  Alpheus  Hancock.  Sarah  was  married  Nov.  20,  1794,  to 
John  Kent,  of  Suffield.  Mary  was  married  to  Thomas  Chandler,  of 
Enfield.  Aaron  Steel,  the  father,  had  a  commission  of  a  lieutenant 
in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  died  at  Albany  Nov.  28,  1777. 
Sarah,  the  mother,  died  at  East  Hartford,  Dec.  n,  1805. 

SETH  STEEL  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Lieut.  Aaron  Steel  and  Sarah 
his  wife  {page  207],  was  married  Nov.  26,  1787,  to  Keziah  Lewis, 
daughter  of  Eleazer  and  Mary  Lewis.  Their  children — Agustus,  born 
June  4,  1792.  Austin  Lewis,  born  Jan.  2,  1795.  Clarissa  Eddy,  born 
Jan.  i,  1797.  Solomon,  born  Sept.  24,  1799.  George,  born  Jan.  29, 
'1805. 

AARON  STEEL,  son  Lieut.  Aaron  and  Sarah  Steel,  was  married  Oct. 
19,  1797,  to  Phebe  Bebee.  Their  children — Reuben,  born  Nov.  29, 
1799.  Sarah,  born  Sept.  22,  1803.  Aaron,  born  Nov.  22,  1805. 
Phebe,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  i,  1806.  Aaron  Steel,  the  father,  was 
married  again,  March  7,  1807,  to  Ruth  Stedman.  Their  children — 
Phebe,  born  Dec.  i,  1807.  Mary  Jane,  born  Dec.  20,  1809. 

Rev.  RICHARD  S ALTER  STORRS,  of  Longmeado\v,  son  of  Rev.  John 
Storrs  and  Eunice,  his  wife  {page  208],  was  born  Aug.  30,  1763;  was 
graduated  at  Yale  College,  1783  ;  was  married  Oct.  12,  1785,  to  Sarah 
Williston,  daughter  of  Rev.  Noah  Williston,  of  West  Haven,  and 
Hannah  his  wife.  She  was  born  June  14,  1765,  and  he  was  ordained 
over  the  church  in  Longmeadow  Dec.  7,  1785  ;  he  died  Oct.  3,  1819, 
age  56.  Children — Richard  Salter,  born  Feb.  6,  1787,  died  Aug.  n, 
1873.  Sally,  born  Nov.  28,  1788,  died  Jan.  4,  1864.  David  and  Jona- 
than, born  March  27,  1792.  David  died  May  25,  1848.  Jonathan 
died  Jan.  4,  1855.  Charles  Backus,  born  May  15,  1794,  died  in  Ohio 


89 

Sept.  15,  1833  ;  was  President  of  West.  Res.  Coll.  John  Newton,  born 
Feb.  1 6,  1796,  died  April  10,  1798.  Eleazer  Williams,  born  Dec.  8, 
1797,  died  Jan.  10,  1798.  Sarah,  the  mother,  died  Jan.  27,  1798.  The 
Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs  was  married  again  Oct.  8,  1798,  to  Sarah 
Williams,  daughter  of  Ensign  Samuel  Williams,  who  was  born  May 
7,  1765,  and  died  Feb.  7,  1846.  Their  children— Eleazer  Williams, 
born  July  7,  1799,  married  Lucy  Colton  June  19,  1828,  died  April  6, 
1880.  Eunice  Conant,  born  Aug.  22,  1801.  Lucy  Burt,  born  Sept. 
10,  1804,  died  Jan.  4,  1833,  in  Illinois;  married  Butler  Denham.  Sally, 
the  daughter,  was  married  Nov.  9,  1808,  to  Charles  Billings,  of  Con- 
way.  Richard  Salter  Storrs  studied  at  Williams  College  and  at  An- 
dover,  and  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Braintree.  [Vacant  to  page 
210]. 

THEOPHILUS  SWETLAND  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Israel  and  Dor- 
cas Swetland,  was  married  May  8,  1779,  to  Zilpha  Sprague  of  Coven- 
try. He  w.as  born  Jan.  17,  1757,  died  May  17,  1822.  Their  children — 
Ira,  born  Nov.  20,  1780.  Israel,  born  March  23,  1783,  died  May, 
1785.  Alma,  born  March  5,  1785.  Sally,  born  July  23,  1787.  Clarissa, 
born  Jan.  5,  1790.  Silas,  born  June  i,  1792.  Polly,  born  Sept.  21, 
1794,  died  May  27,  1795.  Sprague,  born  May  8,  1796,  died  March 
17,  1801.  Polly,  born  May  7,  1798.  Zilpha,  the  mother,  died  Aug. 
17,  1799.  Theophilus  Swetland,  the  father,  was  married  again  Jan. 
1800,  to  Anne  Brown,  daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Aphia  Brown,  of  Long- 
meadow.  Their  children — Eleazer,  Tx>rn  Feb.  22,  1801.  Joseph,  born 
Nov.  25,  1802.  Eli,  born  Feb.  7,  1805.  Anne,  born  Jan.  14,  1807. 
Irena,  born  March  2,  1809,  died  Oct.  2,  1813,  age  4.  Asenath,  born 
April  5,  1811,  died  Oct.  5,  1813,  age  2.  Almira  was  married  July  12, 
1804,  to  Samuel  Wright.  Sally  was  married  July  12,  1808,  to  Anthony 
Wright. 

NATHANIEL  TAYLOR,  of  West  Springfield,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah 
Taylor  [page  211],  was  married  May  i,  1760,10  Cloe  Brooks,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  Brooks.  She  was  born  Aug.  6,  1740.  Their 
children — Er,  born  Oct.  17,  1760.  Stephen,  born  Jan.  29,  1762. 

Jerusha,  born  .  Lovice,  born .  Moses,  born . 

Nathaniel,  born  March  27,  1769.  Solomon,  born .  Anne,  born 

.  Jonathan,  born  .  David,  born .  Cloe,  born 

.  Jerusha  was  married  to  Daniel  Babcock.  Anne  was 

married  to  Edward  Stebbins,  Jr.  He  dying,  she  was  married  Aug. 
9,  1810,  to  Jonathan  Sikes,  of  Ludlow.  Lovice  was  married  to 
Darius  Wright,  son  of  George  Wright,  of  Springfield.  Cloe  was 
married  to  Seth  Otis.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  hereafter  in  this 
and  the  following  page}.  Nathaniel,  the  father,  died  Oct.  1801,  in  his 
66th  year.  Cloe  Taylor  died  Nov.  5,  1835. 

ER  TAYLOR,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Cloe  Taylor 
above,  was  married  April  13,  1784,  to  Joanna  Cooley,  daughter  of 
Stephen  and  Mary  Cooley.  Their  children — Seth,  born  April  21, 
1785,  died  May  28,  1835.  Ethan,  born  June  10,  1790.  Eunice,-born 


90 

June  7,  1792.  Ithamar,  born  Oct.  n,  1797,  died  Oct.  15,  1802. 
Joanna,  the  mother,  died  June  14,  1823,  aged  64. 

STEPHEN  TAYLOR,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Cloe 
Taylor  above,  was  married  March  i,  1787,  to  Anna  Stebbins,  daughter 
of  Ezra  and  Margaret  Stebbins.  Their  children — John,  born  Nov. 
24,  1787,  died  April  22,  1828.  Olive,  born  Sept.  21,  1790.  Orin, 
born  April  20,  1793.  Eunicia,  born  April  20,  1705,  died  Sept.  1800. 
Anne,  born  Sept.  6,  1797,  died  Sept.  13,  1800.  Eunicia,  born  Sept. 
22,  1801.  Olive  was  married  to  Elijah  Colton  May  19,  1811.  Anna, 
the  mother,  died  Dec.  8, 1824.  age  59.  The  father  died  Dec.  27,  1843. 

MOSES  TAYLOR,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Cloe  Taylor 
\_PaSe  2I2]>  was  married  to  Mary  Cooley,  daughter  of  Stephen  and 
Mary  Cooley.  Their  children — Loran,  born  March  n,  1788.  Mary, 
born  May  30,  1789.  Abigail,  born  July  3,  1793.  Mary,  the  daughter, 
was  married  Nov.  1811,  to  Elijah  Green,  of  West  Springfield.  Abigail 
was  married  Feb.,  1811,  to  David  Wellman. 

NATHANIEL  TAYLOR,  of  Longmeadow,  son*  of  Nathaniel  and  Cloe 
Taylor,  was  married  to  Jerusha  Ely,  daughter  of  Capt.  Levi  Ely,  of 
West  Springfield.  Their  children — Levi  Ely,  born  Nov.  17,  1795. 
Amelia,  born  June  4,  1798,  died  Oct.  24,  1801.  Newton,  born  Aug. 
n,  1800,  died  Oct.  29,  1801.  Nathaniel  Taylor,  the  father,  died  Oct. 
24,  1802.  Jerusha,  the  mother,  was  married  again  to  Oliver  Bagg,  of 
West  Springfield. 

SETH  TAYLOR,  of  Longmeadow,  was  married  Sept.  21,  1806,  to 
Mary  Silcock,  daughter  of  Robert  Silcock.  He  was  the  son  of  Er 
and  Joanna  Taylor.  Their  children — Loisa,  born  Aug.  21,  1811. 
Alford,  born  June  30,  1817.  [Vacant  to  page  215.] 

NATHANIEL  WATERHOUS,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
Mercy  Waterhous,  was  born  June  24,  1766,  was  married  to  Olive 
Cleveland.  He  died  March  27,  1841,  age  77.  She  died  June  23, 
1840,  age  70.  Their  children — Olive,  born  Nov.  2,  1784.  Sarah, 
born  Jan.  29,  1794.  Nathaniel,  born  July  29,  1795,  died  Dec.  20, 
1834.  Jeramiah,  born  Sept.  17,  1797.  Isaac,  born  Aug.  17,  1801. 

PRESERVED  WHITE,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Daniel  and  Hannah 
White  [page  216],  was  married  to  Rachel  Kilborn  ;  published  Nov.  29, 
1740.  Their  children — Rachel,  born  April  18, 1742.  Preserved,  born 
Nov.  23,  1743.  David,  born  Jan.  30,  1747,  died  Oct.  2,  1823,  age  77. 
Hannah,  born  Aug.  20,  1750.  Lewis,  born  Feb.  25,  1753.  Persia, 
born  Aug.  29,  1755.  Zervia,  born  March  19,  1758.  Lewis,  born 
June  20,  1760.  Walter,  born  June  13,  1765,  died  July  14,  1819. 
Rachel,  the  daughter,  was  married  Jan.  i,  1767,  to  Ambrose  Collins. 
(The  families  of  the  sons,  see  hereafter.)  Hannah  was  married  July 
9,  1780,  to  William  Stephenson.  They  removed  to  Thetford,  Vermont. 
Zervia  was  married  to  Stoughton  Bliss,  son  of  Reuben  Bliss.  They 
lived  in  East  Windsor,  Dec.  7,  1780.  Rachel,  the  mother,  died  June, 
1777.  Preserved,  the  father,  died  July  16,  1802. 

PRESERVED  WHITE,  of  Springfield,  son  of  Preserved  and   Rachel 


White  above,  was  married  Aug.  20,  1767,  to  Mary  Terry.  Their 
children — Martin,  born  June  4,  1770.  Luther,  born  April  7,  1772. 

DAVID  WHITE,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Preserved  and  Rachel 
White  [page  217],  was  married  Jan.  30,  1777,  to  Lydia  Ely,  daughter 
of  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely  and  Mary  his  wife.  He  died  Oct.  2,  1823, 
age  77.  Their  children — Sarah,  born  Nov.  23,  1778,  died  Jan.  28, 
1850.  David,  born^Oct.  2,  1780,  died  Jan.  30,  1781.  Lydia,  the 
mother,  died  Feb.  9/1781.  David  White  was  married  again,  Dec.  5, 
1782,  to  Sarah  Pyncheon,  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  Pyncheon. 
She  died  July  26,  1826,  age  75.  Their  children — David,  born  Jan. 
30,  1786.  William,  born  June  25,  1789.  Lydia,  born  Sept.  15,  1791. 

LEWIS  WHITE,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Preserved  and  Rachel 
White,  was  married  Sept.  20,  1787,  to  Susannah  King,  daughter  of 
Parmenas  and  Hannah  King,  of  Wilbraham.  She  was  born  Nov.  7, 
1756.  Their  children — Lewis,  born  Aug.  21,  1788,  died  June  4,  1818, 
at  Sacket's  .Harbor.  Susannah,  born  Aug.  3,  1790.  Harry,  born  Jan. 
4,  1792.  Persis,  born  June  21,  1795.  Sylvia,  born  Feb.  13,  1797, 
died  Oct.  9,  1803.  Lewis  White,  the  father,  died  Jan.  24,  1844. 

DEA.  WALTER  WHITE,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Preserved  and 
Rachel  White,  was  married  March  22,  1792,  to  Sabina  Keep,  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  and  Sabina  Keep.  He  died  July  14,  1819.  Their 
children — Franklin,  born  Jan.  14,  1793,  died  April  13,  1813.  Walter, 
born  March  31,  1795.  Cynthia,  born  March  13,  1797.  Sabina,  born 
Nov.  19,  1800.  John,  born  Sept.  22,  1804.  Eliza,  born  Nov.  i,  1807. 
Samuel,  born  Sept.  8,  1810. 

WILLIAM  WHITE,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  David  and  Sarah  White 
[/0gv?2i8],  was  married  Nov.  12,  1820,  to  Lois  Cooley,  daughter  of 
Calvin  and  Eunice  Cooley.  Their  children — Mary  Cooley,  born  Sept. 
23.  1821.  William  Pyncheon,  born  Feb.  24,  1824.  Jeannette  Chit- 
tenden,  born  Dec.  27,  4827.  James  Cooley,  born  Feb.  9,  1838. 
[Vacant  to  page  220.] 

ist  Generation.  ROBERT  WILLIAMS  [page  220],  great-grandfather 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  Williams,  of  Longmeadow,  came  from  Nor- 
wich in  England,  and  settled  in  Roxbury  near  Boston.  His  sons 
were — Samuel,  Isaac,  and  Stephen. 

2d  Generation.  SAMUEL  WILLIAMS,  of  Roxbury,  son  of  Robert 
Williams,  was  married  to  a  woman  whose  maiden  name  was  Park. 
His  sons  were— Samuel,  John,  Ebenezer,  and  Park.  His  daughters 
were — Mary,  Deborah,  Martha,  and  Abigail. 

3d  Generation.  REV.  JOHN  WILLIAMS,  of  Deerfield,  son  of  Samuel 
Williams,  of  Roxbury,  was  born  Dec.  10,  1664.  He  is  said  to  have 
received  a  public  education  by  the  assistance  of  his  grandfather  Park. 
He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  year  1683  ;  was  ordained 
the  first  Pastor  of  the  church  in  Deerfield,  May  1686,  and  was  marned 
to  Miss  Eunice  Mather,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Eleazer  Mather, 
first  Pastor  of  the  church  in  Northampton,  and  Esther  his  wife. 
Their  children  were— Eleazer,  died  Sept.  21,  1742.  Samuel.  Esther, 


92 

died  March  12,  1751.  Stephen,  born  May  14,  1693,  died  June  10, 
1782.  Eliakim.  jerusha.  Eunice.  Jemima.  Warham,  died  June 
22,  1751.  John,  and  Jerusha.  Eleazer,  Stephen,  and  Warham 
had  public  educations,  at  Harvard  College.  Eleazer  graduated 
1708,  and  was  settled  at  Mansfield,  in  Conn.,  in  the  ministry. 
Steven  graduated  1713  [seethe  following  page].  Wareham  gradu- 
ated 1719,  and  was  ordained  at  Waltham,  June  u,  1723.  The 
Rev.  John  Williams,  with  his  family,  excepting  Eleazer,  was  cap- 
tured by  the  French  and  Indians  Feb.  29,  1704;  his  two  youngest 
children  were  killed  on  the  day  in  which  they  were  taken ;  his 
wife  was  killed  the  day  following ;  he  was  carried  to  Canada 
with  his  children  Samuel,  Esther,  Stephen,  Eunice,  and  War- 
ham.  He  returned  from  Canada  Nov.  21,  1706;  his  children  all 
returned  excepting  Eunice,  who  remained  in  Canada  and  was  married 
to  an  Indian,  had  children,  and  died  an  aged  woman.  The  Rev.  John 
Williams  was  married  again  to  Mrs.  Abigail  Allen,  of  Windsor,  grand- 
daughter of  the  Rev.  Mr.  .Warham,  of  Windsor,  and  a  cousin  of  his 
former  wife.  Their  children — John.  Eliakim.  Elijah,  died  July 
10,  1771.  Abigail.  Sarah,  died  Jan.  1737.  Elijah  and  Abigail 
[page  221]  only  of  the  last  children  have  families.  Elijah  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  College  1732,  was  married  to  —  —  Dwight. 
Removed  to  Enfield  in  time  of  the  war,  and  his  wife  died  in  that  town 
Jan.  25,  1749.  He  was  married  again  Jan.  i,  1750,  to  Margaret 
Pyncheon,  daughter  of  Col.  William  Pyncheon.  He  died  July  10,  1771, 
and  she  died  April  1772.  Abigail  was  married  to  Col.  Hinsdell,  who 
died  Jan.  1763.  She  was  married  again  Oct.  1764,  to  Col.  Benja- 
min Hall,  of  Cheshire,  who  died  Jan.  1773.  She  was  married  again, 
July,  1773,  to  Col.  E.  Silliman,  who  dying  Oct.  17,  1775,  she  removed 
to  Deerfield,  and  died  in  that  town.  The  Rev.  John  Williams,  the 
father  of  the  foregoing  families,  was  seized  with  a  fit  of  apoplexy  on 
the  night  of  the  8th  of  June  and  'died  on  the  morning  of  the  i2th, 
1729.  Abigail,  his  last  wife,  died  July,  1754.  Esther,  the  daughter, 
was  married  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Meacham,  of  Coventry,  and  she  died 
March  12,  1751,  and  he  died  Sept.  24,  1752. 

4th  Generation.  REV.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS,  D.D.,  of  Longmeadow, 
son  of  the  Rev.  John  and  Eunice  Williams,  was  born  May  14,  1693, 
was  taken  captive  Feb.  29,  1704,  was  carried  to  Canada  and  being  re- 
deemed returned  to  Boston  Nov.  21,  1705.  He  was  educated  at  Har- 
vard College,  graduated  1713,  kept  a  school  at  Hadleigh  one  year, 
came  to  Longmeadow  Nov.  4,  1714,  and  preached.  Oct.  17,  1716,  he 
was  ordained.  July  3,  1718,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Abigail  Daven- 
port, daughter  of  Rev.  John  Davenport,  of  Stamford  in  Connecticut. 
Their  children — John,  born  March  8,  1720,  died  April  1791.  Stephen, 
born  Jan.  26,  1722,  died  April  20,  1795.  Eunice,  born  Sept.  i, 
1723,  died  Oct.  31,  1805.  Warham,  born  Jan.  7,  1726,  died  April 
1788.  Samuel,  born  May  31,  1729,  died  July  21,  1807.  Davenport, 
born  May  11,  1731,  died  Oct.  18,  1758.  Martha,  born  May  7,  1733, 
died  Feb.  18,  1825.  Nathan,  born  Oct.  28,  1735.  (The  families  of 


93 

the  sons  see  in  the  following  pages.)  Eunice  was  married  May  8, 
1753,  to  William  Stebbins.  Davenport  died  at  Sheffield  Oct.  18, 
1758,  as  he  was  returning  from  the  army,  in  which  he  had  a  lieuten- 
ant's commission.  Martha  was  married  Jan.  4,  1759,  to  Dr.  Samuel 
Raynolds,  he  dying  Feb.  6,  1774,  she  was  married  again  Nov.  15, 
1787,  to  Dea.  Nathaniel  Ely.  Abigail,  the  mother,  was  born  July  14, 
1696,  and  died  Aug.  26,  1766.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Williams  was^married 
again  Sept.  17,  1767,  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Burt,  the  widow  of  Dea.  Nathan- 
iel Burt  and  (laughter  of  David  Chapin,  of  Chicopee.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Williams  died  June  10,  1782,  in  the  goth  year  of  his  age  and  the  66th 
of  his  ministry.  Mrs.  Sarah  Williams,  his  widow,  died  Nov.  18,  1790, 
age  84.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Williams  served  as  chaplain  in  three  cam- 
paigns, viz.,  at  Cape  Britain,  in  the  year  1745,  from  which  place  he  re- 
turned to  Boston  sick  in  the  beginning  of  December,  and  recovered  so 
as  to  return  to  his  own  house  on  the  first  of  February  1746  ;  at  Lake 
George  in  the  year  1755  and  1^56,  in  the  last  of  which  years  he  came 
home  before  the  army  broke  up  the  campaign.  In  the  year  1773  he 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Dartmouth  College. 

5th  Generation.  JOHN  WILLIAMS,  of  Wilbraham,  son  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Williams,  of  Longmeadow  \_page  222],  was  married  Jan.  22,  1747, 
to  Ann  Colton,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Colton.  Their  chil- 
dren— Stephen,  born  Nov.  8,  1747,  died  Aug.  5, 1750.  Ann,  born  Sept. 
8,  1749,  died  Sept.  22,  1764.  Abigail,  born  May  18,  1751,  died  Sept. 
3,  1779.  Mar)',  born  March  28,  1753.  Stephen,  born  July  28,  1755. 
Sarah,  born  Oct,  19,  1757,  died  Dec.  16,  1758.  John,  born  April  22, 
1761.  Eleazer,  born  April  15,  1764.  Ann,  the  mother,  died  of  a 
cancer  in  the  breast  Nov.  23,  1771.  John  Williams,  the  father,  was 
married  again  March  1772.  John  Williams,  the  father,  was  married 
again  the  third  time.  He  died  April  1791.  The  sons,  Stephen,  John, 
and  Ebenezer,  had  families.  Mary  was  married  Jan.  22,  1778,  to 
Cornet  Nash  Chapin,  of  Somers. 

5th  Generation.  REV.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS,  of  Woodstock,  son  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Williams,  was  graduated  at  New  Haven,  1742,  was  or- 
dained at  Woodstock,  2d  Society,  Nov.  1747,  and  was  married  Oct. 
18,  1748,  to  Martha  Hunt,  daughter  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Hunt,  of 
Northampton,  and  grand-daughter  of  Martha  Hunt,  sister  of  the  John 
Williams  of  Deerfield.  Their  children— Martha,  born  Nov.  5,  1749, 
died  May  23,  1754.  Eunice,  born  Feb.  1752,  died  Aug.  8,  1776.  An- 
drew, born  June  1755,  scalded  July  igth  and  died  2oth,  1758. 
Andrew,  born  June  21,  1760.  Stephen,  born  Aug.  8,  1762.  Timothy, 
born  April  16,  1764.  Patty,  born  Aug.  10,  1766,  died  Oct.  1766. 
Martha,  the  mother,  died  Dec.  10,  1786.  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  the 
father,  died  April  20,  1795. 

5th  Generation.  REV.  WARHAM  WILLIAMS,  of  Northford  in  Bran- 
ford,  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Williams,  was  graduated  at  New  Haven 
1745,  was  ordained  at  Northford  June  13,  1750,  and  was  married  Nov. 
13,  1752,  to  Ann  Hall,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hall,  of  Chic<spee. 
Their  children  were  Warham.  Stephen.  Samuel  Hall.  Jonathan 


94 

Law.  Davenport.  Anne.  William  Augustus.  Lucy.  Abigail. 
Abigail.  Eunice.  Samuel.  Sarah.  Ann,  the  mother,  died  March 
1776.  The  Rev.  Warham  Williams  was  married  again  to  Miss  Whit- 
ing, the  widow  of  Col.  Nathan  Whiting,  of  New  Haven,  and  died 
April  1788. 

5th  Generation.  ENSIGN  SAMUEL  WILLIAMS,  of  Longmeadow,  son 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Williams  [page  223],  was  married  Feb.  14,  1760,  to 
Lucy  Burt,  daughter  of  Dea.  Nathaniel  Burt  and  Sarah  his  wife. 
Their  children — Lucy,  born  May  9,  1761,  died  June  28,  1815.  Abi- 
gail, born  Feb.  6,  1763.  Sarah,  born  May  7,  1765.  Eunice,  born  Oct. 
9,  1767.  Martha,  born  Dec.  30,  1769,  died  Nov.  29,  1819,  age  50. 
Ann,  born  March  22,  1772,  died  Dec.  31,  1831.  Samuel,  born  Sept. 

23,  1774.      Jerusha  Mather,  born  June  6,  1783,  died   Dec.  20,  1844. 
Abigail  was  married  Jan.  24,  1793,  to  Mr.  Levi  Hackley.      They  re- 
moved to  the  State  of  New  York ;  he  dying,  she,  with  her  children, 
returned  to  Longmeadow.     Ensign  Samuel  Williams,  the  father,  died 
July  21,  1807.     The  mother,  Lucy  Williams,  died  March  26,  1816. 

5th  Generation.  REV.  NATHAN  WILLIAMS,  D.D.,  of  Tdlland,  Ct., 
son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Williams,  of  Longmeadow,  was  graduated  at  New 
Haven,  1755,  ordained  at  Tolland  April  30,  1760,  and  was  married 
Oct.  20,  1760,  to  Miss  Mary  Hall,  daughter  of  Capt.  Eliakim  Hall,  of 
Wallingford.  She  was  born  Nov.  6,  1737.  Their  children — Nathan, 
born  Nov.  1761,  died  Dec.  16,  1784.  Eliakim  Hall,  born  Jan.  16, 
1764.  William,  born  April  23.  1766.  Mary,  born  April  19,  1768. 
Ruth,  born  Nov.  u,  1770,  died  Oct.  2,  1788.  Abigail,  born  Aug.  14, 
1773,  died  Feb.  2,  1774.  Isaac,  born  Sept.  24,  1776,  died  April  18, 
1781.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  in  pages  223  and  224).  Nathan, 
the  eldest  son,  graduated  at  New  Haven,  1782.  He  went  to  Savan- 
nah in  the  State  of  Georgia  and  died  there  Dec.  16,  1784.  Mary,  the 
daughter,  was  married  Oct.  14,  1787,  to  Dr.  William  Grosvenor. 
(Their  family,  seepage  224.) 

6th  Generation.  ELIAKIM  HALL  WILLIAMS,  of  Tolland,  son  of  Dr. 
Nathan  Williams  above,  was  married  again  Jan.  8,  1792,  to  Mary 
Burt,  daughter  of  Capt.  David  Burt  and  Mary  his  wife.  She  died  in 
child-birth  with  her  first  child  Jan.  23,  1793.  Eliakim  H.  Williams 
was  married  again  Jan.  1797,  to  Damaris  Cary.  By  her  he  had  a  child 
stillborn,  Feb.  1798,  and  she  died  Sept.  20,  1801.  Eliakim  H. 
Williams  was  married  again  Jan.  9,  1803,  to  Ducelia  Howard.  Their 
children — Emeline,  born  Oct.  10,  1803.  Eliakim  Hall,  born  Aug.  18, 
1805.  Isaac,  born  Feb.  20,  1808. 

6th  Generation.  WILLIAM  WILLIAMS,  of  Tolland,  son  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Nathan  Williams  [page  224],  was  married  Sept.  4,  1793,  to  Sarah 
Burt,  daughter  of  Capt.  David  Burt  and  Mary  his  wife.  Their  chil- 
dren— Nathan,  born  April  6,  1795.  Polly,  born  Nov.  18,  1797. 
William,  born  Nov.  13,  1799.  Sophy  Maria,  born  Aug.  16,  1801. 
David  Burt,  born  Sept.  29,  1803.  Agustus  Davenport,  born  Dec. 

24,  1805.     Theadorius  Dickerman,  born  March  3,  1808. 

DR.  WILLIAM  GROSVENOR,  of  Tolland,  was  married  Oct.  14,   1787, 


95 

to  Mary  Williams,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  Williams.  Their 
children— Mary  W.,  born  Sept.  14,  1788.  Nathan  born  and  died  May 

10,  1790.     Ruth,  born  April  4.  1791.     Nathan,  born  and  died  Apri'l 

11,  1792.     Jacob,  born  Nov.   23,   1793.     Ruth,  born  March,   1796. 
Isaac  and  Nathan,  born  April   6  and  died  April  6  and  7,  1798.     Dr. 
Grosvenor,  the  father,  died  Oct.  14,  1798,  age  34  years. 

6th  Generation.  STEPHEN  WILLIAMS,  son  of  jqhn  and  Ann  Wil- 
liams, was  married  March  4,  1778,  to  Diademia  Field,  daughter  of 
Capt.  Moses  Field  and  Rebecca  his  wife.  Their  children— Henry, 
born  Jan.  2,  1779.  Betsey,  born  Nov.  i,  1784,  died  March  22,  1835! 
Stephen  Williams,  the  father,  absconded.  Diademia,  his  wife,  was 
married  again  June  25,  1793,  to  Jacob  Kibbe,  of  Monson,  and  died 
in  that  town.  Henry,  the  son,  was  married  Sept.  23,  1801,  to  Mehit- 
table  Lancton.  They  removed  to  Conway  and  lived  together  some 
time,  and  he  absconded.  Betsey,  the  daughter,  being  educated  by 
her  uncle,  Col.  A.  Field,  was  married  April  i,  1805,  to  Henry  Wol- 
cott,  of  Longmeadow. 

6th  Generation.  ELEAZER  WILLIAMS,  son  of  John  and  Ann  Wil- 
liams, was  married  Nov.  18,  1788,  to  Sally  Collins,  daughter  of 
Stephen  and  Sarah  Collins.  Their  children— William  Williams,  born 
June  i,  1789.  Fanny,  born  Dec.  u,  1790.  [Vacant  to  page  228.] 

HENRY  WOLCOTT,  a  native  of  Windsor,  was  married  Dec.  27,  1716, 
to  Abigail  Cooley,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Abigail  Cooley,  of 
Longmeadow.  Their  children — Benjamin,  born  Sept.  14,  1717,  died 
Feb.  25,  1801.  Jane  Allin,  born  Aug.  5,  1719.  Abigail,  born  Aug. 
15,  1721,  died  Feb.  4,  1809.  Penelope,  born  Dec.  15,  1724.  Trip- 
hene,  born  Dec.  20,  1726.  Henry,  born  May  15,  1729.  Simon,  born 
Aug.  7,  1733.  Peter,  born  Aug.  21,  1736,  died  Dec.  7,  1758.  Henry 
Wolcott,  the  father,  with  some  of  his  children,  removed  to  Windsor 
and  died.  Benjamin  settled  in  Longmeadow  and  died  without  issue. 
Jane  Allin  was  married  about  the  year  1745,  to  Joseph  Chapin. 
Abigail  was  married  Dec.  i,  1743,  to  Mathew  Keep.  Penelope  was 
married  Nov.  22,  1749,  to  John  Colton.  Henry  and  Simon  settled  in 
Windsor.  Henry  Wolcott,  from  Windsor,  was  married  to  Betsey 
Williams,  daughter  of  Stephen  Williams  [page  224],  April  i,  1805. 
Their  children — Alexander  Field,  bom  Jan.  17,  1806,  died  in  Florida. 
Flavia  Colton,  born  June  2,  1809.  Jeanette,  born  June  17,  1816. 

Elisabeth,  born  Jan.  7,  1814.  Henry,  born  July  23, .  Albert, 

born  Aug.  31,  1823.  Elisabeth,  the  mother,  died  March  22,  1835. 
Henry  Wolcott  died  May  5,  1838.  [Vacant  to  page  230.] 

RICHARD  WOOLWORTH,  of  Suffield,  son  of  Richard  and  Hannah 
Wool  worth,  was  married  Sept.  15, 1714.  He  was  born  Dec.  6  (1687). 
His  wife  was  Elisabeth  Hall.  Their  children — Elisabeth,  born  Aug. 
9,  1715.  Richard,  born  March  i,  1717,  died  May  u,  1802.  Azariah, 
born  Oct.  9,  1718.  Hannah,  born  Sept.  13,  1720.  Timothy,  born 
May  17,  1722.  Ebenezer,  born  March  17,  1724,  died  Dec.  27,  1725. 
Reuben,  born  Dec.  30,  1725.  Mary,  born  Oct.  31,  1727.  Diqah, 
born  July  i,  1729.  Richard  Woolworth,  the  father,  died  Oct.  29, 
1732. 


96 

RICHARD  WOOLWQRTH,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Richard  and 
Elisabeth  above,  was  married  to  Naomy  Wright,  of  Northampton. 
She  was  born  1721.  Their  children  —  Azariah,  born  Aug.  31,  1747, 
died  Dec.  20,  1814.  Ruth,  born  Aug.  25,  1749,  died  Feb  15,  1799. 
Naomy,  born  Nov.  10,  1751.  Richard,  born  Jan.  18,  1754.  Sarah, 
born  July  9,  1756,  died  Aug.  29,  1756.  Thankful,  born  Jan.  n,  1759, 
died  Oct.  25,  1797.  Joseph,  born  Aug.  16,  1760,  died  Aug.  22,  1760. 
Naomy,  the  mother,  died  Aug.  22,  1760.  Richard  Woolworth,  the 
father,  was  married  again  Oct.  21,  1762,  to  Lois  Colton,  daughter  of 
William  and  Mary  Colton.  Their  children  —  Aaron,  born  Oct.  25, 
1763.  Lucretia,  born  April  9,  1765.  Chester,  born  April  5,  1767. 
Mary,  born  May  2,  1769.  William,  born  June  2,  1771,  died  Nov.  3, 
1771.  Stillborn,  June  2,  1771.  Lois,  the  mother,  died  Nov.  26,  1800, 
by  falling  into  the  fire  [see/ag?  55].  Richard  Woolworth,  the  father, 
died  May  n,  1802.  (The  families  of  the  sons,  see  after  this.)  Ruth 
was  married  June  10,  1773,  to  Col.  Pelatiah  Bliss,  of  West  Springfield. 
Naomy  was  married  Feb.  16,  1775,  to  George  Brewer,  of  Springfield. 
Lucretia  was  married  July  23,  1788,  to  Capt.  Gideon  Colton.  Mary 
was  married  Feb.  5,  1789,  to  Dennis  Colton. 

AZARIAH  WOOLWORTH.  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Richard  and  Naomy 
Woolworth  above  [/#£•<?  81],  was  married  Nov.  25,  1773,  to  Rebecca 
Field,  daughter  of  Capt.  Moses  and  Rebecca  Field.  He  died  Dec. 
20,  1814,  age  67.  She  died  Dec.  26,  1836,  age  88.  Their  children  — 
Rebecca,  born  Dec.  2,  1774,  died  Aug.  16,  1777.  Sarah,  born  Aug. 
8,  1777,  died  Jan.  8,  1813.  Azariah,  born  Sept.  25,  1779.  Rebecca, 
born  Feb.  21,  1783.  Fanny,  born  Feb.  29,  1785,  died  in  Ohio. 
William,  born  April  10,  1788,  died  at  Ware.  Sarah  was  married  June 
5,  1803,  to  Daniel  Green.  Rebecca  was  married  May  5,  1808,  to 
David  Hale.  Fanny  was  married  May  2,  1805,  to  John  Gaylord  [page 


RICHARD  WOOLWORTH,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Richard  and 
Naomy  Woolworth  \_page  231],  was  married  May  24,  1780,  to  Mercy 
Cooley,  daughter  of  Eli  and  Mary  Cooley.  Their  children  —  Mary, 
born  Feb.  5,  1781,  died  March  2,  1783.  Samuel  Phips,  born  Jan.  4, 
1783.  Danforth,  born  June  24,  1785.  Mercy,  the  mother,  died  April 
26,  1786.  Richard  Woolworth  was  married  again  May  31,  1787,  to 
Jemima  Champion,  daughter  of  Dr.  Reuben,  of  West  Springfield,  and 
Lydia  his  wife.  She  was  born  Aug.  6,  1762.  Their  children  —  Rich- 
ard Champion,  born  April  9,  1789.  John,  born  Nov.  19,  1792,  went 
west  and  died.  Moses,  born  Jan.  26,  1801,  died  Feb.  23,  1801. 
Aaron,  born  Jan.  26,  1801.  Richard,  the  father,  died  Sept.  9,  1824, 
age  70.  Jemima,  the  mother,  died  May  7,  1841,  age  79. 

REV.  AARON  WOOLWORTH,  of  Bridgehampton,  of  Long  Island,  State 
of  New  York,  was  graduated  at  New  Haven,  1784,  was  ordained  at 
Bridgehampton  Aug.  30,  1787,  and  was  married  Aug.  27,  1788,  to 
Mary  Buel,  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Buel  of  East  Hampton. 
The  Rev.  Aaron  Woolworth  was  son  of  Richard  and  Loice  Woolworth. 
Their  children  —  Mary  Mulford,  born  Sept.  14,  1789.  Samuel  Buel, 


97 

born  Nov.  i,  1791,  died  Sept.  13,  1794.  Louisa.  Colton,  born  July 
2i,  1793.  Sophia,  born  Feb.  8,  1796.  Hannah,  born  Jan.  13,  1798, 
died. Jan.  15,  1798.  Samuel  Buel,  born  Dec.  15,  1800.  Richard 
born  Oct.  17,  1803. 

CHESTER  WOOLWORTH,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Richard  and  Loise 
Woolworth,  was  married  Nov.  26,  1807,  to  Cloe  Lewis,  daughter  of 
Eleazer  and  Mary  Lewis.  Cloe  Woolworth,  the  wife  of  Chester 
Woolworth,  died  in  child-bed  with  her  first  child,  Dec.  9,  1809  [Va- 
cant to  page  234.] 

DANIEL  WEBSTER,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Amos  Andros  and 
Mabel  Webster,  of  Weathersfield,  society  of  Newington,  was  born 
.  June  28,  1783,  and  was  married  April  13,  1805,  to  Anne  Andros, 
daughter  of  Ehzur  and  Anne  Andros  of  the  aforesaid  town  and 
society.  She  was  born  Nov.  28,  1776.  Their  children— Frances, 
born  July  21,  1806.  Nathan,  born  April  10,  1808.  Caroline,  born 
June  2,  1810,  died  Feb.  26,  1813.  Daniel,  born  July  27,  1812.  Car- 
oline, born  Feb.  12,  1815.  Calvin,  born  Oct.  1819.  Walter,  born 
Feb.  10,  1821,  died  Feb.  14,  1822. 

AMOS  ANDROS  WEBSTER,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Amos  Andros, 
and  Mable  Webster,  of  the  town  of  Wethersfield,  in  the  Society  of 
Newington,  was  born  July  10,  1781,  and  was  married  to  Mary  Rice, 
daughter  of  Fphraim  and  Abigail  Rice,  of  Meriden.  She  was  born 
May  25,  1789.  Their  child— Abigail  Smith,  born  Sept.  16,  1810. 

JACOB  WEBBER,  of  Longmeadow  [page  235],  was  married  to  Elisa- 
beth Nelson.  Their  children — Dorcas,  born .  Charlevil,  born 

— ,  died  April  3,  1811.     John,  born  Dec.  8,  1771.     Alpheus,  born 

.     Eunice,  born  .     Charlotte,   born  -       — .      Eunice, 

born .     Eleanor,  born  .     Polly,   born  April  13,    1783, 

and  died  July  1783.  Ephraim,  born  May  9,  1785.  Polly,  born  July 
5,  1787.  Jacob  Webber,  the  father,  died  Feb.  19,  1812.  Dorcas  was 
married  to  John  Burgis,  Jan.  24,  1793.  Eunice  was  married  Nov.  29, 
1798,  to  John  M.  Caswell. 

JOHN  W'EBBER,  of  Longmeadow,  son  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  above, 
was  married  Feb.  26,  1801,  to  Rubie  Hale,  daughter  of  Silas  and 
Hannah  Hale.  Their  children — Sylvia,  born  May  24,  1802.  Sabin, 
born  May  22,  1804.  Alfred,  born  June  8,  1808.  John  Webber,  the 
father,  died  March  21,  1829,  age  57. 

[END.] 

NOTE. — It  should  be  distinctly  understood  that  no  responsibility  rests  upon  the 
compilers  of  this  volume,  either  for  the  accuracy  of  the  facts  of  the  foregoing  Gene- 
alogical Record,  or  for  its  typographical  correctness. 

The  two  indispensable  conditions  of  its  insertion  at  all  in  the  present  volume,  at 
the  late  date  when  this  was  decided  upon,  were,  that  its  accuracy  should  be  implicitly 
assumed  without  any  present  attempt  at  verification,  and  secondly  that  its  typograph- 
ical conformity  to  the  manuscript  should  be  absolutely  guaranteed  by  the  publishing 
house  which  accepted  the  sole  responsibility  of  all  the  proof-reading. 

However  many  mistakes  may  appear  under  the  microscopic  inspection  of  the  fam- 
ilies interested  (and  doubtless  there  will  be  many),  there  remains  no  doubt  that  the 
record  as  here  given  will  sufficiently  serve  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  chiefly  inteiided, 
viz.:  as  a  stock  upon  which  to  engraft  the  corrections  and  additions  necessary  to  a 
more  perfect  future  edition.  To  this  end  the  cooperation  of  all  interested  readers 
is  again  earnestly  invited. 
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